The US Treasury on Thursday named two Lebanese men it said laundered money for Hezbollah to its sanctions blacklist.
The Treasury said Mohamad Noureddine and Hamdi Zaher El Dine worked through Noureddine’s Beirut company Trade Point International to move money for Hezbollah-linked businesses and individuals already on US blacklists.
Adam J. Szubin, acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, said that Hezbollah ” needs individuals like Mohamad Noureddine and Hamdi Zaher El Dine to launder criminal proceeds for use in terrorism and political destabilization” and that “Noureddine has utilized an extensive network across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East to provide money laundering, bulk cash shipment, black market currency exchange, and other financial services to a variety of clients, including Hezbollah members.”
“We will continue to target this vulnerability, and expose and disrupt such enablers of terrorism wherever we find them.”
Hamdi Zaher El Dine was an employee of Trade Point.
Earlier in January the United States named an alleged financier of Hezbollah to its sanctions blacklist in a mounting effort to crack down on the group’s financial resources.
The US Treasury said Ali Youssef Charara and his Beirut-based telecommunications company Spectrum Investment Group Holding have received millions of dollars from Hezbollah to invest in commercial projects.
Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militant group and political part, is officially labeled a terrorist group by the United States.
The US has sanctioned over 100 individuals and entities associated with Hezbollah in an effort to lock individuals and companies out of the global financial system by banning Americans and any US institutions from doing business with those on the blacklist.
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