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Mum Flagged As 'Isis Terrorist' After Sending Bank Transfer

Mum Flagged As 'Isis Terrorist' After Sending Bank Transfer

Susan Govindasamy was investigated by Interpol over the payment

Dominic Smithers

Dominic Smithers

A 'scatty' mum was feared to be a terrorist after sending a bank transfer.

Susan Govindasamy, from Bolton, Greater Manchester, was 'speechless' when an innocent £500 payment meant for her horse was stopped, with Interpol opening an investigation into the matter.

The 57-year-old had tried to send the money in order to cover the costs of 'horse bootcamp' for her nine-year-old Arab horse Isis and labelled the transaction 'funds for Isis'.

However, a few days later, when her friend had not received the payment, Susan noticed that it was still pending.

It was only after she contacted PayPal that she realised what had happened, and had to explain what the mix-up was.

She now says that she's much more vigilant with her payments and that she's learned her lesson.

She said: "I'm a bit scatty, there are tons of things I've done and my husband has said 'I can't believe you've done that'.

Kennedy News and Media

"We then both got emails from PayPal and Interpol wanting to know the reason why I was sending funds to ISIS.

"My husband had to tell me why it had happened, when the penny dropped I was speechless.

"I'd been flagged as a potential terrorist. I remember thinking 'what does this mean, what will happen now?'"

Susan had to send Isis's passport through to PayPal and Interpol to prove that she had no affiliation to the terrorist organisation before the money could be sent.

As an avid fan of Ancient Egypt, Susan has previously owned horses called Pharoah and Nefertiti, and had been warned about using the name Isis.

"Isis is the goddess of goddesses," she says. "She's very revered and astute goddess that's looked up to, she's come through a lot in my life.

"[After the terrorist group called themselves ISIS] People said 'you can't call her Isis anymore you'll have to change her name'.

"I said 'I'm not changing her name, I absolutely refuse she's called Isis after the Egypitian goddess and if people can't get past that then they've got an issue'."

Kennedy News and Media

When the payment was temporarily suspended and she had to explain the situation, Susan sent an email along with Isis's passport.

Susan's email to PayPal read: "Hello. Thanks for your communication, I have a horse she is called B.A Isis bint Kadera or Isis for short.

"She is currently out on loan at my friend's [name redacted] who has arranged for some schooling to be done and has requested some funds for her.

"I thought PayPal's is a convenient option so am just waiting to pay her now.

"I hope this clears up any confusion."

A PayPal spokesperson said: "Government regulations require that payments companies including PayPal scan all payments for terrorist and other references.

"We do everything we can to eliminate references that have nothing to do with terrorism, and work with customers to resolve quickly any issues that might inadvertently arise."

A spokesperson for Interpol explained that it would not have been someone from their General Secretariat that contacted Susan as they do not contact individuals in this way, but explained it could have been national law enforcement in one of Interpol's 194 National Central Bureaus.

Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media

Topics: Horse, Investigation, ISIS, Animals