NEW YORK, Dec 16, (Agencies): Federal authorities blamed Lebanese financial institutions Thursday for wiring more than $300 million into the United States in a money-laundering scheme they said used the US financial system to benefit the militant group Hezbollah.
The US government said in the lawsuit filed in a Manhattan federal court that it seeks nearly a half-billion dollars in money-laundering penalties from some Lebanese financial entities, 30 US car buyers and a US shipping company. It also said it’s entitled to claim their assets as forfeitable under US money-laundering laws.
Prosecutors said the $300 million was wired from Lebanon to the United States and used to buy used cars and ship them to West Africa. They said Hezbollah money-laundering channels were used to ship proceeds from the car sales and narcotics trafficking back to Lebanon.
The accusations came two days after an indictment in federal court in Virginia accused fugitive Ayman Joumaa of leading a drug conspiracy that provided income for Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group that the US has branded a terrorist organization.
A Washington-based Drug Enforcement Administration spokesman, Lawrence R. Payne, told The Associated Press in February that Joumaa’s organization laundered money using 50 used car lots in the United States. Cars were exported to Lebanon and West Africa.
US Attorney Preet Bharara said the civil case brought Thursday reveals a massive international scheme in which Lebanese financial institutions, including banks and two exchange houses linked to Hezbollah, passed money through the US financial system to launder narcotics trafficking and other criminal proceeds through West Africa and back into Lebanon.
The government said substantial portions of the cash were paid to Hezbollah, which has been designated by the US State Department as a terrorist organization since 1997.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah wants the government to question the American ambassador in Beirut after the militant group revealed what it said were the names of CIA operatives operating under diplomatic cover.
A parliamentarian representing the Shi’ite political party and guerrilla movement told Reuters on Wednesday that placing spies in a diplomatic mission violated international law.
“Hezbollah calls on the government to question the US ambassador in Beirut over this aggression and to put a stop to American diplomats’ constant violations of Lebanese sovereignty,” said Hassan Fadlallah, head of communications for Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc.
“The law should apply ... to American diplomats just as it does to any other embassy in Lebanon.”
Hezbollah, which sits in the Lebanese government, named alleged US undercover operatives on its television channel, al-Manar, in a series of animated videos aired on Friday that recreated supposed meetings between CIA officers and informants.
The US embassy has declined to comment on the allegations but if true they would highlight the capabilities of Hezbollah in its espionage battle with the Central Intelligence Agency.
The group, backed by Iran and Syria, said in June it had uncovered and captured three spies among its members, two of whom had been recruited by the CIA. US officials later acknowledged that the loss of such informants was damaging to US intelligence gathering.
Washington considers Hezbollah a terrorist group, and accuses Iran of developing a nuclear weapon and sponsoring attacks on US troops in Iraq.
In a report released on its website, Hezbollah said it had uncovered more than 10 operatives and the station chief, adding that “a den of spies has penetrated all diplomatic relations” at the US embassy.
It said the spies used false names and met informants at American chain restaurants.
“Does the information the CIA was trying to obtain about the resistance, its officials, weapons and structures concern US national security?” Fadlallah asked. “Or is it only for Israeli interests? This spying does not serve the American people’s interests.”