From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Lebanese man convicted in US of financing for Hezbollah returns home
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleBEIRUT — A Lebanese businessman serving a five-year sentence in the United States for providing millions of dollars to the Hezbollah terror group arrived today in Beirut after his early release, local media report.
Kassim Tajideen was sentenced last year in a federal court in Washington for his role in a money laundering conspiracy aimed at evading US sanctions. He was arrested in Morocco and extradited to the US in 2017, where he was he was charged with laundering money for Hezbollah.
There’s no immediate comment from US or Lebanese officials on his early release.
Lebanon’s National News Agency reported Tajideen’s arrival. A local Lebanese TV station, LBC, broadcast a video taken with a cellphone of his arrival at the Beirut airport. He stepped out of small jet, wearing a face mask as a necessary coronavirus precaution. The video shows a man rushing toward Tajideen, hugging him and stooping down to Tajideen’s feet in celebration of his release.
A Washington federal judge had ordered the release of Tajideen in May. The National, an English-language newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, said the 64-year-old Tajideen was granted compassionate release due to health conditions and fears of coronavirus infections in prison. The US Department of Justice had contested the release.
Tajideen was accused of conspiring with at least five other people to conduct over $50 million in transactions with US businesses, in violation of sanctions that barred him from doing business with US nationals and companies because of his support for Hezbollah. Washington has designated the Iran-backed Hezbollah a terrorist group.
— Agencies
Liban/Etats-Unis: ça fleure bon l'échange! Un financier du Hezbollah Kassim Tajideen détenu aux US est arrivé mercredi à Beyrouth. Libéré officiel pour raisons de santé. 4 mois la libération par le Liban d'Amer Fakhoury, ancien tortionnaire d'1 prison du sud aux mains d'Israël. pic.twitter.com/x1fRmeyEZW
— Georges Malbrunot (@Malbrunot) July 8, 2020
The Times of Israel Community.