US imposes sanctions on Hezbollah-linked money laundering network | CPT PPP Coverage

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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration announced sanctions Tuesday on what it described as an international money laundering and sanctions evasion network backing an art dealer suspected of funding Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. 

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) unveiled designations on 52 individuals and entities in Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. According to OFAC, the network facilitated the payment, shipment and delivery of cash, diamonds, precious gems, art and luxury goods for the benefit of alleged Hezbollah financier Nazem Said Ahmad. 

The State Department in 2019 added the Belgian-Lebanese dealer to its list of specially designated global terrorists for providing financial support to Iran-backed Hezbollah, in part through trade in so-called “blood diamonds.” 

In a news release Tuesday, Treasury alleged that Ahmad has acquired more than $54 million in works of art since 2012 and often concealed his involvement with invoices indicating cover companies, family members or business associates as the owners. Those hit with sanctions include several of Ahmad’s family members and business associates who are accused of helping broker deals on behalf of Ahmad. 

“The individuals involved in this network used shell companies and fraudulent schemes to disguise Nazem Said Ahmad’s role in financial transactions,” Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement. 

“Luxury good market participants should be attentive to these potential tactics and schemes, which allow terrorist financiers, money launderers and sanctions evaders to launder illicit proceeds through the purchase and consignment of luxury goods,” Nelson said. 

The sanctions are part of a coordinated action with the British government, which froze Ahmad’s assets in the United Kingdom on Tuesday in an effort to disrupt what it called an international terrorist-financing operation.

In addition, a federal court in New York charged Ahmad in an alleged scheme to secure $160 million worth of artwork from US-based artists and diamond-grading services while concealing his role in the transactions. One of the eight co-defendants named in the indictment was arrested in the UK, but Ahmad remains at large. 

To mark the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut, the US State Department on Tuesday announced a reward of up to $7 million for information on the whereabouts of Hezbollah leader Ibrahim Aqil. The department is also offering up to $10 million for information on Ahmad and Hezbollah’s financial mechanisms.