The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on Thursday against five people and two companies that have laundered money and helped Hassan Moukalled, a Hezbollah financial adviser, evade U.S. sanctions.
“Hezbollah continues to rely on seemingly legitimate business investments and key facilitators to generate revenue for the group’s destabilizing attacks across Israel’s northern border,” stated Brian Nelson, U.S. under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence.
The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Adnan Mahmoud Youssef, Mazen Hassan al-Zein, Andriyah Samir Mushantaf, Bashir Ibrahim Mansur and Firas Hasan Moukalled, and the companies The Crystal Group (based in Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates) and Teleport Company (London).
Washington designated Moukalled in January for helping Hezbollah avoid economic sanctions. The United Arab Emirates also sanctioned the Hezbollah adviser in February, listing him and his company CTEX on its local list of those sanctioned for supporting terrorism.
Moukalled continues to serve as a key financial advisor to Hezbollah, working closely with the Iran-backed terror organization’s senior finance officials to represent its business interests across the Middle East, according to the Treasury Department.
CTEX Exchange was established jointly by Moukalled and Hezbollah officials as a front company to facilitate funding for the terrorist group.
