Hezbollah uses US credit card partners to launder money: report

A new report reveals Hezbollah is laundering funds through Lebanese payment platforms tied to Visa and MasterCard.

By World Israel News Staff

The Hezbollah terror group is effectively laundering funds despite being under international sanctions by partnering with Lebanese payment platforms that also work with major U.S. credit card companies, according to a bombshell report.

The Financial Times reported on Sunday that Hezbollah has developed a sophisticated system to evade sanctions by using charities — clearly linked to the terror group — and processing funds through Whish Money and OMT, two digital payment platforms headquartered in Beirut.

Whish Money and OMT are active partners of American financial giants Visa and MasterCard, and they help process more than $6 billion in remittances sent from abroad to Lebanon every year.

According to the report, the Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation, commonly known as the Emdad Association, and the Martyr Foundation — both under U.S. sanctions for their affiliation with Hezbollah — are receiving donations via Whish Money and OMT.

Notably, the Financial Times investigation found that the digital wallets linked to these charities were registered under individuals’ names rather than as charity organizations. This loophole allows donations to Hezbollah-linked entities to be made through private citizens instead of directly to sanctioned groups.

To confirm the connection, Financial Times journalists reviewed receipts of transactions conducted through the Whish platform, including one case in which a person sent money to a private wallet associated with the Emdad Foundation. That donor later received a receipt from the Emdad Foundation for the same amount that was transferred.

In a statement to the Financial Times, Whish denied any wrongdoing, saying it maintains strict compliance measures “to detect and prevent any form of money laundering or terrorism financing.”

OMT issued a similar statement, asserting that it operates “in full compliance with U.S. laws,” including refusing to work with sanctioned entities.

The Emdad Foundation declined to comment on the report.