A key financial backer of the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero once contributed to a U.S.-designated terror group.

Egyptian-born businessman Hisham Elzanaty, who made what is described as a “significant investment” in the Ground Zero mosque project,contributed more than $6,000 in 1999 to the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, also known as HLF, tax records show.

The donations came two years before the federal government shut down HLF and designated it a terror group. Elzanaty’s attorney told MyFox New York that his client believed at the time that he was donating to an orphanage. Elzanaty did not respond to questions.

Federal investigators say the group was set up as a Texas-based charity, but in fact supported Hamas.

Ray Locker, managing director of The Investigative Project on Terrorism, told MyFox New York that even in 1999, news outlets reported on possible ties between HLF and terror organizations.

Five HLF leaders were convicted in 2008 of providing support to Hamas.

(Read More: MyFoxNY)