District map of Lebanon showing Shi'a majority areas where Hezbollah has influence
Photo’s source: Wikipedia.org
On May 11, 2021, the US Treasury Department sanctioned seven Lebanese people connected to Hezbollah for illicitly transferring $500m on behalf of the Iran-backed group.
The US Treasury named Ibrahim Ali DAHER, the chief of Hezbollah’s finance operation, and six other men who allegedly used personal accounts at Lebanese banks, including Jammal Trust Bank, to evade US sanctions.
The Treasury Department said in a statement that Ibrahim Ali DAHER who is described as the chief of Hezbollah’s Central Finance Unit, as a specially designated global terrorist, accusing him of acting on behalf of Hezbollah.
The names of the other six people are Ahmad Mohamad YAZBECK, Abbas Hassan GHARIB, Wahid Mahmud SUBAYTI, Mostafa Habib HARB, Ezzat Youssef AKAR, and Hasan Chehadeh OTHMAN.
The Treasury accused the six men of using the cover of personal accounts at Lebanese banks to evade sanctions targeting AQAH and transfer $500 million on behalf of the U.S.-blacklisted firm.
Hezbollah officials had no commented.
Andrea GACKI, the director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in the statement: “Hezbollah continues to abuse the Lebanese financial sector and drain Lebanon’s financial resources at an already dire time“.
“Such actions demonstrate (Hezbollah’s) disregard for financial stability, transparency, or accountability in Lebanon” she added.
The US expanded its sanctions on Hezbollah, blacklisting former transport and finance ministers for providing financial help to the group, which for years has been finding ways around US restrictions.
Hezbollah has been nominated by the US and 12 other nations as a “terrorist” organization for its hardline operations. Other countries like China, Russia, Iran, and Syria have said they do not consider Hezbollah to be a terrorist organization.
This article was edited using the data from Al Jazeera, Apnews.com, Reuters.com, and Arabnews.com
