The Europe Trust, formerly known as the European Trust, is a UK charity and company which lists its purpose as developing a portfolio of assets intended to fund social and economic projects for communities in Europe. The Europe Trust was founded by the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), an organization alleged to have ties with the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe.
Europe Trust is a Markfield, United Kingdom-based company and charity which was first registered as a U.K. charity in 1996 under the name European Trust and then incorporated as a U.K. company named Europe Trust in 2003.[1] In 2004 it was again registered as a charity bearing the name Europe Trust. The 2005 financial report says that the principal activity of the company "was that of to establish a portfolio of assets (awqaf) businesses and investments to generate resources to fund social and economic projects for communities in Europe."[2]
The Europe Trust has purchased a property in Berlin's Wedding district for four million euros. Several associations and groups have moved in there that are being monitored by the Federal and State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz), i.e. German domestic intelligence services.[3]
The directors and trustees of the Europe Trust are European Muslims of Middle Eastern descent. The Europe Trust employs three staff members and has multiple volunteers. Former trustee and co-founder Dr. Ahmed Kadhem al-Rawi serves currently as the chief executive.
Major news outlets as the Wall Street Journal and The Times have reported that the Europe Trust is the financial vehicle of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2005 that the European Trust was created in 1996 as the de facto fundraising arm of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe in order to break the dependency of FIOE on Gulf donors. The Journal also reported that the Trust had directly subsidized projects of the FIOE, including three colleges and three local Islamic centers that affiliated with the FIOE.[4]
The Times reported that the Europe Trust, which has property assets worth more than £8.5 million, sends rental income from its properties to an unofficial network of Brotherhood-linked organizations throughout the continent including the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), identified by a government minister in 2010 as “the Brotherhood’s representative in the UK”.[5]
The Times of London reported a number of ties from the Europe Trust and/or its Trustees to various forms of terrorism: