The Lebanese Canadian Bank and two Beirut-based exchange houses, Hassan Ayash Exchange Co. and Ellissa Holding, along with 30 auto dealers in the United States, are being accused by U.S. federal authorities for participating in a US$400+ million money laundering scheme to benefit Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah and Colombian drug cartels.
“The intricate scheme laid out in today’s complaint reveals the deviously creative ways that terrorist organizations are funding themselves and moving their money, and it puts into stark relief the nexus between narcotics trafficking and terrorism”, said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
The plan involved using a number of account holders to mix money obtained from the Colombian drug-trafficking cartels with money from the sale of used cars bought in the United States and sold to West Africa.
Then, as the federal agencies disclosed, the money were transferred first into the two exchange houses and then to the bank, which gave Hezbollah its cut.
Based on its findings of a six-year DEA investigation, last February the Treasury Department ordered the closing of the Lebanese Canadian Bank, which it labeled “a financial institution of primary money laundering concern” and sold its untainted assets to a new owner.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Manhattan federal court, seeks nearly half a billion dollars in penalties from the three Lebanese financial organizations and 30 auto dealers in the United States that were implicated in these activities, as well as freezing and seizing their assets.
Hezbollah replied that the charges are “American propaganda”, while the Lebanese Canadian Bank’s former owners and the two exchange houses deny all accusations.
Story References: Bloomberg & NY Times
