Hezbollah Supporter Sanctioned By US Treasury
Two H?s: Pro-Hezbollah Lebanese demonstrators protest Israel?s attack on Gaza during the recent conflict. Image by getty images
WASHINGTON — For the first time since the passage of a law targeting money flowing to Hezbollah, a financier of the terrorist organization and his company have been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department.
All U.S.-based assets of Ali Youssef Charara and Spectrum Investment Group Holding SAL, a telecommunications company Charara chairs, were frozen as of Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury reported. Charara, according to the Treasury, received millions of dollars from the Lebanon-based Hezbollah to invest in commercial projects that financially benefit the group.
The Hezbollah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015 was passed last month.
Charara also has worked on oil ventures in Iraq with Hezbollah member Adham Tabaja and Hezbollah financial supporter Kassem Hejeij, both of whom were sanctioned last year by the Treasury.
“Hezbollah relies upon accomplices in the business community to place, manage and launder its terrorist funds,” Adam Szubin, acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a statement. “We are committed to exposing and disrupting these networks to pressure Hezbollah’s finances and degrade its ability to foment violence in Lebanon, Syria and across the region.”
Since October 2001, Hezbollah has been declared a “specially designated global terrorist” by the U.S. State Department.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
