The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced Friday the designation of a network of 16 individuals and entities led by Hezbollah financier Alaa Hassan Hamieh.
According to Treasury, the network, operating across Lebanon, Syria, Poland, Slovenia, Qatar, and Canada, has laundered and diverted over $100 million since 2020 to support Hezbollah’s military and financial operations.
Alaa Hamieh, a former official at Lebanon’s Investment Development Authority (IDAL), allegedly used family members, associates, and a series of companies, including Seven Seas SAL Offshore, Calllync S.A.L. Offshore, and subsidiaries in Europe and Canada, to conceal ownership and move funds.
The network also includes Hamieh’s brother Muhammad Hasan Hamieh, Lebanese national Hamdan Ali Al Lakis, Syrian arms dealer Bahaa Addin Hashem, Hezbollah member Mohamad Jamil Salami, and Qatar-based Raoof Fadel, among others.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the designations target “key actors within [Hezbollah’s] global financial network that sustain its militant activities,” noting the group continues to divert funds from Lebanese development projects to finance terrorism.
All property and interests of the designated individuals and entities in the U.S., or in the possession of U.S. persons, are blocked. Transactions with these parties are prohibited unless specifically licensed by OFAC. Violations may result in civil or criminal penalties, and foreign financial institutions engaging with the network could face secondary sanctions.
OFAC emphasized that the sanctions aim to bring about behavioral change.
The designations follow long-standing U.S. efforts to target Hezbollah, designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization in 2001 and a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 1997.
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