Lebanese national Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi, 60, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to conduct and cause U.S. persons to conduct unlawful transactions with a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
In May 2018, the Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Bazzi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist for assisting in, sponsoring, and providing financial, material, and technological support and financial services to Hizballah. Hizballah is a foreign terrorist organization that has engaged in numerous terrorist activities since the 1980s, including attacks against American military members, government employees, and civilians abroad.
According to the OFAC designation, Bazzi is a key Hizballah financier who has provided millions of dollars to Hizballah over the years from his business activities in Belgium, Lebanon, Iraq, and throughout West Africa. As a result of the designation, Bazzi’s interest in any property in the United States was blocked, and all U.S. persons were generally prohibited from transacting business with or for the benefit of Bazzi.
Following Bazzi’s designation and according to court documents, Bazzi and his co-defendant Talal Chahine conspired to force or induce an individual located in the United States (U.S. Person) to liquidate their interests in certain real estate assets located in Michigan. They then covertly transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds from the liquidation out of the United States to Bazzi and Chahine in Lebanon without required OFAC licenses. This action violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
During recorded communications, Bazzi and Chahine proposed numerous methods to conceal from OFAC and law enforcement officials that Bazzi was both the source and destination of the proceeds from the sale. They aimed to create a false appearance that the U.S. Person was conducting legitimate arms-length transactions unrelated to them. For example:
- The funds could be transferred through a third party in China as part of a fictitious purchase of restaurant equipment.
- A third party in Lebanon could be used as part of a fictitious real estate purchase.
- Chahine’s family members in Kuwait could be involved as part of fictitious intra-family loans.
- The funds could be transferred as part of a fictitious franchising agreement for operating a Lebanese-based restaurant chain throughout the United States.
Bazzi was arrested by Romanian law enforcement authorities in February 2023 and subsequently extradited to the Eastern District of New York. The Justice Department thanked Romanian authorities for their assistance.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date. Bazzi faces up to 20 years in prison. He has also agreed to forfeit nearly $830,000 involved in illegal transactions and will be removed from the United States upon completing his sentence. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the National Security Division; U.S. Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York; Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of FBI’s National Security Branch made this announcement.
Assistant U.S Attorneys Francisco J Navarro; Jonathan P Lax; Nomi D Berenson; Claire Kedeshian; Robert M Pollack for Eastern District New York are prosecuting case with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Charles Kovats National Security Division Counterterrorism Section Scott Claffee National Security Division Counterintelligence Export Section Justice Department Office International Affairs assisted extradition case
This effort is part Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces OCDETF operation OCDETF identifies disrupts dismantles highest-level criminal organizations threaten United States using prosecutor-led intelligence-driven multi-agency approach Additional information about OCDETF Program can found www.justice.gov/OCDETF