The Financial Trail Behind the 9/11 Attacks

The logistical backbone of the operation relied on key facilitators, most notably Mustafa al Hawsawi and Ali Abdul Aziz Ali. Hawsawi, operating out of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, managed accounts and logistics, including the purchase of flight tickets for operatives traveling to the United States. Meanwhile, Ali handled the primary pilots—Mohammed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, and Ziad Jarrah—facilitating a significant $70,000 transfer in September 2000. These funds were supplemented by the pilots' existing German bank accounts, ensuring a steady stream of capital for living expenses and flight training.

Financial activity surged in the final days before the attacks. On September 6, 2001, Fayez Rashid Ahmed Hassan al-Qadi Banihammad transferred $8,055 from a Florida SunTrust account back to Hawsawi’s account in the UAE. Just two days later, Atta sent additional payments totaling $7,860 to an alias used by Hawsawi. Despite these transactions, intelligence agencies failed to synthesize the disparate data points. A critical oversight involved a Visa card application submitted by Hawsawi in August 2001, which featured a photograph of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed—a known figure from the 1995 Bojinka plot—yet failed to trigger a connection within US security circles.