OFAC Designates Two People, Three Entities for Aiding Sanction Evasion Schemes for Hizballah
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two people and three entities for “acting as conduits for sanctions evasion schemes” for Hizballah, OFAC said in an April 24 press release. Belgium-based Wael Bazzi and Lebanon-based Hassan Tabaja were sanctioned for acting on behalf of family members who are Hizballah financers, OFAC said, and Belgium-based Voltra Transcor Energy BVBA, Belgium-based OFFISCOOP NV and United Kingdom-based BSQRD Limited were sanctioned for being owned by Bazzi. OFAC also updated an existing item on its Specially Designated Nationals List, adding Energy Engineers Procurement and Construction as an alias for Global Trading Group NV, which is owned by Wael Bazzi’s father, Mohammad Bazzi.
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Treasury announced that the two people and three entities are also subject to secondary sanctions under the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations, which implement the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015. This allows OFAC to prohibit or place restrictions on any financial account opened in the U.S. by a foreign institution that “knowingly facilitates a significant transaction for Hizballah,” Treasury said.
The announcement “builds on the unprecedented number of designations” taken against Hizballah in 2018 that exposed the terrorist group’s money laundering schemes, Treasury said. But despite the designations, Treasury said Hizballah “continue[s] to use deceptive practices to circumvent sanctions” by using family members to access the “formal financial system both in Lebanon and beyond.” Companies should conduct due diligence of its customers “to ensure awareness of the ultimate beneficiaries of transactions,” Treasury said, and to make sure they are not violating U.S. sanctions.
Since OFAC designated Mohammad Bazzi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in May 2018, he has turned to his son, Wael Bazzi, to continue his operations, Treasury said. Specifically, Wael has been conducting business on behalf of his father in Gambia, where Wael has “bid on Gambian government contracts” and created a petroleum company “to maintain his father’s access to the oil industry,” according to the press release. Wael has been acting as the owner of his father’s company, Global Trading Group, to “obscure” his father’s involvement and evade U.S. sanctions, Treasury said. The department also said Wael “likely established an account for Voltra Transcor Energy, in connection with Mohammad Bazzi’s attempted use of an intermediary company to move money to [Global Trading Group] and circumvent OFAC sanctions.”
Hassan Tabaja was sanctioned for acting on behalf of his brother, Adham Tabaja, who OFAC named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2015. Hassan, “likely” on behalf of his brother, pursued business deals with Mohamad Noureddine, Treasury said, a Lebanese money launderer who was sanctioned by OFAC in 2016.