“We will continue to root out those who seek to abuse the US and international financial system to fund and engage in terrorism,” State Department official said.
By World Israel News Staff
The U.S. State Department announced sanctions against seven individuals and companies in Lebanon and South America accused of funneling money to the Hezbollah terror group.
As a result of the sanctions, the people and entities designated to be financing the terror group will no longer be able maintain their assets in the U.S., use U.S. banks for transactions, or do business with U.S. companies.
“Today’s action underscores the U.S. government’s commitment to pursuing Hezbollah operatives and financiers no matter their location,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.
“We will continue to root out those who seek to abuse the U.S. and international financial system to fund and engage in terrorism.”
The sanctions are specifically focused on longtime Hezbollah operative Amer Mohamed Akil Rada and his family and associates, according to a press release from the State Department.
Rada’s brother, son, and friends, along with various enterprises they’ve established, have consistently engaged in money laundering and other illicit activity in order to funnel money to Hezbollah, the State Department said.
Rada, currently based in Lebanon, lived in South America for decades and served as the head of Hezbollah’s External Security Organization (ESO).
In that role, he was responsible for supervising numerous commercial enterprises to generate funds for the terror group, including exporting charcoal from Colombia to Lebanon.
He is believed to have been a close partner of the Hezbollah operatives who carried out a massive terror attack against a Jewish community center in Argentina in 1994.
Eighty-five people were killed and hundreds were wounded in the bombing, which stands as the deadliest terror attack against Jews on South American soil.
Rada is also thought to have been involved in the bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires, which occurred in 1992.