Syed Farook took out a $28,000 loan from an online lender just two weeks before they went on a shooting rampge.
US government officials have said Farook, aged 28, and wife Tashfeen Malik, aged 29, who shot dead 14 of his co-workers at a holiday party in San Bernardino, were radicalized Muslims who committed an act of terror – but there is no evidence that the money trail led to a foreign group.
At least three transfers of $5,000 appeared to go to Farook’s mother.
Investigations into such attacks often focus on how they were financed, and it is thought Farook may have used some of the money to buy the assault rifles the couple used.
A source told Reuters on Tuesday that Prosper, a San Francisco-based online lender, made the $28,500 loan to Farook.
Fox News cited a source saying Farook’s financial transactions supported the belief that the shooting was premeditated and not the result of a dispute with a co-worker at the holiday lunch for San Bernardino County workers.
Earlier in the investigation, it was suggested that Malik radicalized her American-born husband of two years.
During a press conference held on Monday, David Bowdich, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said that both Farook and Malik ‘were radicalized and have been for quite some time’.
