Grimy Times Exclusive
Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi, a 60-year-old Lebanese national, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct and to cause U.S. persons to conduct unlawful transactions with a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
According to court documents, Bazzi was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in May 2018 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) for assisting in, sponsoring and providing financial, material and technological support and financial services to Hizballah, a foreign terrorist organization.
Hizballah has been responsible for numerous terrorist activities, including attacks against American military members, government employees and civilians abroad since the 1980s.
As a result of the designation, Bazzi’s interest in any property in the United States were blocked, and all U.S. persons were generally prohibited from transacting business with, or for the benefit of, Bazzi.
However, Bazzi and his co-defendant, Talal Chanine, who remains at large in Lebanon, conspired to force or induce an individual located in the United States to liquidate their interests in certain real estate assets located in Michigan and covertly transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds of the liquidation out of the United States to Bazzi and Chahine in Lebanon without the required OFAC licenses.
The scheme involved proposing numerous methods to conceal from OFAC and law enforcement officials that Bazzi was both the source and destination of the proceeds of the sale and to create the false appearance that the U.S. Person was conducting legitimate arms-length transactions unrelated to Bazzi and Chahine.
Bazzi was arrested in February 2023 by Romanian law enforcement authorities and subsequently extradited to the Eastern District of New York. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and has agreed to forfeit the nearly $830,000 that was involved in the illegal transaction.
The Justice Department thanks the Romanian authorities for their assistance in this matter.
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later date.
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Key Facts
- State: Federal
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Organized Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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