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Mohammad has extensive experience in implementing Infor WMS in the US, working with clients such as Wheeler Fleet. He utilized his analytical skills to create functional designs and prototypes and developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to ensure efficient and effective use of the system. Mohammad Al Dana Operational Specialist Ahmad Halabi Operational Lead Ahmad holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from a top 10 university in the Arab region, the Lebanese...

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Over Fifty Individuals and Companies Targeted Across Nine Countries in Coordinated Action WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated a vast international money laundering and sanctions evasion network of 52 individuals and entities in Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. This network facilitated the payment, shipment, and delivery of cash, diamonds, precious gems, art, and luxury goods for the benefit of Hizballah financier and Specially Designated Global Terrorist Nazem Said Ahmad, who was designated on December 13, 2019, for providing material support to Hizballah. The network designated today includes dozens of individuals and their associated companies involved in assisting Nazem Said Ahmad in evading U.S. sanctions to maintain his ability to finance Hizballah and his luxurious lifestyle. This designation is a part of a coordinated action with the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program, and the United Kingdom. “The individuals involved in this network used shell companies and fraudulent schemes to disguise Nazem Said Ahmad’s role in financial transactions,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “Luxury good market participants should be attentive to these potential tactics and schemes, which allow terrorist financiers, money launderers, and sanctions evaders to launder illicit proceeds through the purchase and consignment of luxury goods.” Treasury has documented the money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with the trade of works of art in its February 2022 report titled “Study of the Facilitation of Money Laundering and Terror Finance Through the Trade of Works of Art” and the October 2020 OFAC Art Advisory. OFAC is designating this complex network of family members, business associates, and companies under Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists, terrorist organizations, leaders, and officials of terrorist groups, and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. A GLOBAL NETWORK With operations in Beirut, Lebanon; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Hong Kong, Nazem Said Ahmad directs a global network of family members, associates, and companies that take advantage of the permissive nature of the global diamond, precious gems, and art market to facilitate payment for, and shipment and delivery of, luxury goods. The network utilizes legal and illegal arrangements to coerce both witting and unwitting participants into falsely engineering certificates, which are required under the Kimberley Process, to manipulate diamond prices and taxes, and to give their business the appearance of legitimacy. The network also uses aliases, front companies, and fraudulent paperwork to enable Nazem Said Ahmad to purchase or consign high-priced luxury goods and artwork from auction houses and galleries worldwide. The network undervalued invoices for imported goods and cleared bulk items through seaports, leveraging Hizballah’s influence at these ports of entry to move assets into Lebanon without paying the applicable taxes and duties. Nazem Said Ahmad eludes safeguards within the U.S. and international financial system by using associates and front companies that transact on his behalf, while also clandestinely storing large amounts of currency outside the reach of Lebanese banking officials and regulators. To circumvent cash reserve restrictions set by central banking authorities and avoid scrutiny by the Lebanese and international banking communities, the network facilitated a complex scheme of bulk cash transfers, intra-network accounting book transfers, and payments from personal bank accounts and credit cards for business transactions. Nazem Said Ahmad’s associates, along with their legitimate and illegitimate businesses, played an important role in the overall scheme by engaging in “layering,” the name used for the stage in a money laundering operation that disconnects proceeds from the nefarious activity that generated them. Trusted couriers transported cash and other tangible assets, such as diamonds and art, for the financial benefit of Nazem Said Ahmad, his family, and his close associates. The luxury goods and art market has been an ideal avenue for Nazem Said Ahmad and his co-conspirators to move funds out of Lebanon, capitalizing on schemes to overvalue and undervalue artwork and Nazem Said Ahmad’s background as an experienced collector to exploit the industry’s practices. Since 2012, Nazem Said Ahmad has acquired over $54 million in works of art from major auction houses, galleries, and exhibitions, or even directly from artists’ studios, often concealing his beneficial ownership by having official invoices drawn up using cover companies, family members, or business associates as the owners. Map of international money laundering and sanctions evasion network of Hizballah Financier Nazem Said Ahmad KEY FACILITATORS AND ASSOCIATES Nazem Said Ahmad’s Family Members Firas Ahmad, Nazem Said Ahmad’s son, handles many of his father’s business affairs in South Africa. Firas Ahmad is the director of South Africa-based diamond company Mega Gems (PTY) LTD (Mega Gems) and controls another diamond company, Thula Uzwe Trading, also in South Africa. Firas Ahmad obfuscated his ultimate beneficial ownership of Mega Gems through a front company, Oriental Dynasty Limited, directed by his wife, Rim Nasser, who acted as a nominee shareholder. Concealment of his ultimate beneficial ownership is a common tactic used by Nazem Said Ahmad, which his children have also adopted to insulate themselves from legal scrutiny and assist in sanctions evasion schemes on behalf of their father. Since 2018, Nazem Said Ahmad’s daughter, Hind Ahmad, has brokered deals on behalf of her father, as well as coordinating the creation of an alias to help her father evade sanctions and purchase artwork from U.S. companies. Hind Ahmad also acted as a broker for the sale of art in the ultimate beneficial interest of her father, including approaching witting and unwitting studios and galleries to change the provenance line of certain pieces to make their onward sale more attractive to prospective buyers. Hind Ahmad directly owns and operates two galleries, Artual Gallery in Beirut, Lebanon and DIDA in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. She is also indirectly associated with several other galleries but has obfuscated her connections to these entities to insulate them from the impact of her father’s designation. Rami Baker, Nazem Said Ahmad’s brother-in-law, is a close friend and business associate who served as a proxy for Nazem Said Ahmad in many companies in Lebanon and Angola. On behalf of Nazem Said Ahmad, Rami Baker is the proxy owner of United Investment Group SAL, a Beirut-based real estate company that develops luxury real estate projects. Rami Baker is also the trustee for the 76 Benmore Gardens Trust that manages the expansive property portfolio owned by the Ahmad family in the Johannesburg area, including the home inhabited by Firas Ahmad, Rim Nasser, and their family. Rami Baker also owns a Romania-based company, Collecting Bee SRL. Nazem Said Ahmad’s wife, Rima Baker, served as a proxy for Nazem Said Ahmad for both the purchase as well as the consignment of works of art in his collection. Additionally, the network used her name to circumvent UK anti-money laundering procedures covering art market transactions related to a purchase of a work of art from a London-based gallery in the interest of Nazem Said Ahmad. Rima Baker is the majority shareholder of Beirut-based Park Ventures SAL and a Beirut-based real estate company Debbiye 383 SAL. Park Ventures SAL handled the shipping and logistics of importing millions of dollars of art from U.S. and foreign art galleries into Beirut, and circumvented U.S. sanctions through a proxy ownership structure that purposefully registered shares of the company in the names of Rima Baker and Hind Ahmad. Hind Ahmad’s husband, French-Senegalese national Da’ud El Riz, facilitated the acquisitions by his wife and conducted personal and professional business transactions for the benefit of his wife and her galleries. Several of these transactions were the subjects of a scheme to undervalue invoices in a manner that would allow the network to circumvent taxes and duties levied on high-value imports by the Lebanese government. Nazem Said Ahmad’s Business Associates and Accountants Mohamad Hijazi directs Dubai-based White Star DMCC, a front company that was used as the primary financial front for Nazem Said Ahmad to purchase art imported both legally and illegally into Lebanon. Mohamad Hijazi maintained a financial ledger that detailed cash transactions, intra-company book transfers, personal bank account transfers, and credit card transactions, in addition to the use of White Star DMCC’s multiple bank accounts for cross-border payment settlements. Many of the transactions listed in the ledgers recorded the movement of cash to Lebanon for use by Nazem Said Ahmad or remitted to Firas Ahmad or Rami Baker for their personal or business operations. Mohamad Hijazi also coordinated with Hind Ahmad to create an alias to facilitate the purchase of artwork from U.S. companies, and his identification was used to circumvent UK anti-money laundering procedures covering transactions related to the purchase of a work of art from a London-based gallery in the interest of Nazem Said Ahmad. Sundar Nagarajan acted as Nazem Said Ahmad’s primary international accountant, providing material support through his management of, and accounting for, businesses in Nazem Said Ahmad’s network. Sundar Nagarajan was the central manager of financial ledgers detailing the network’s operations …

Treasury Disrupts International Money Laundering and Sanctions ...

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