US sanctions 7 Lebanese nationals allegedly involved in financing Hezbollah

The US Treasury Department announces new sanctions on seven Lebanese nationals it says have been involved in financing the Hezbollah terror group.

The seven men blacklisted include the chief of Hezbollah’s Central Finance Unit Ibrahim Ali Daher, along with others who the US says used their personal bank accounts to evade sanctions targeting Hezbollah’s effective financial firm Al-Qard al-Hassan. The US blacklisted AQAH in 2007, saying Hezbollah uses it as a cover to manage the group’s financial activities and to gain access to the international financial system.

“From the highest levels of Hezbollah’s financial apparatus to working level individuals, Hezbollah continues to abuse the Lebanese financial sector and drain Lebanon’s financial resources at an already dire time,” says the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control Director Andrea Gacki. “Such actions demonstrate Hizballah’s disregard for financial stability, transparency, or accountability in Lebanon.”

The decision announced Tuesday will freeze any US assets of the seven blacklisted and bar Americans from doing business with them at the risk of being hit with additional sanctions.