Jim "Fergie" Chambers inherited a quarter-billion-dollar fortune from the Cox media empire. He used it to bankroll communist organizations across the United States, fund a collective dedicated to "revolutionary organizing," and — according to federal prosecutors — launder $7.5 million to entities linked to foreign terrorist organizations. Spanish authorities arrested him in Ibiza.
The charge carries up to 30 years in prison.
Chambers founded something called the Babochki Collective, a New York-based operation that funneled money to groups including Stop Cop City, the ANSWER Coalition, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and Students for Justice in Palestine. The specific federal charge is international money laundering with intent to support foreign terrorist organizations — the $7.5 million was allegedly transferred out of the country to Tunisia, where Chambers had relocated in late 2023.
Stu Smith of City Journal described the scope bluntly: "Chambers is one of the main funders of America's radical Left." That's not an exaggeration. The Babochki Collective's administrative director, Mirah Wood, also serves as co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America's Internationalist Committee. The network touches nearly every major hard-left organization that's made headlines in the past three years.
Then there's Calla Walsh, a former Democratic Party operative who worked for Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren before founding Palestine Action US — later rebranded as Unity of Fields. On July 5, Walsh appeared on Iranian state television and called Ayatollah Khamenei the "greatest anti-imperialist leader." She also said "Death to America" on camera. Walsh's organizations received funding through the same networks Chambers helped build.
The arrest connects to a larger investigation. Fox News reported on June 29 that federal prosecutors are examining $278 million in funds that flowed through the network of Neville Roy Singham, a China-based Marxist who has become one of the most significant foreign funders of radical left-wing activity in the United States. Singham's operation is under investigation for wire fraud and bank fraud, and the organizational web overlaps heavily with Chambers' — groups like The People's Forum, Newsclick, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine all appear in both networks.
US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton is handling the prosecution. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have both signaled that dismantling foreign-funded radical networks is a priority for the administration.
Mark Penn, the former White House pollster and strategic advisor to President Bill Clinton, put a finer point on the political implications: "Lawmakers should investigate the DSA to see if it is being funded by foreign governments." That's a Democrat-aligned strategist saying the quiet part out loud about his own side's activist infrastructure.
The DSA's response has been silence. No statement on Chambers' arrest. No distancing from Mirah Wood, who still holds a leadership position. No comment on the $278 million question hanging over the broader network.
A $250 million media heir, living in Tunisia, laundering money through a collective that fed directly into the organizational backbone of the American left. The people who showed up to "Stop Cop City" rallies and campus encampments thought they were part of a grassroots movement.
The invoices went to Ibiza.