Multiple federal departments have partnered with U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) to bring federal charges against a previously sanctioned foreign national linked to a terrorist organization.
Nazem Ahmad, a Lebanese resident and dual Belgian-Lebanese citizen, and eight co-defendants face a nine-count indictment unsealed April 18 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, ICE announced in a news release issued the same day. The individuals were charged with "conspiring to defraud the United States and foreign governments, evade U.S. sanctions and customs laws, and conduct money-laundering transactions by securing goods and services for the benefit of Ahmad," according to the release.
Ahmad was sanctioned in December 2019 by the U.S. under the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations (GTSR) for his involvement with the terrorist organization Hizballah and prohibited from engaging in transactions with U.S. persons, the release states.
Despite the sanctions, Ahmad and his global criminal enterprise used a "complex web" of businesses to buy approximately $160 million worth of artwork and diamond-grading services in the U.S. and through the U.S. financial system, the release reports. Entities operated by or for the benefit of Ahmad are said to have imported more than $207 million of good into the U.S. and exporting more than $234 million between December 2019 and December 2022, according to the release; more than $6 million was transferred to Lebanon during this time.
"Ahmad leveraged a global network of businesses, bank accounts, trained accountants, and corrupt patronage systems to illicitly procure high-value goods, sell them for profit, and ultimately launder proceeds," ICE states in the release, "to benefit Ahmad’s lavish lifestyle and in blatant violation of the sanctions imposed against Ahmad for his role as a Hizballah financier. He also orchestrated customs fraud, tax evasion, and smuggling of goods."
The investigation leading to the indictment involved several HSI regional and international attache offices, along with cooperation from the Departments of Commerce, Justice, State and Treasury, the release states. One defendant was arrested in the United Kingdom; Ahmad and eight remaining defendants are said to reside outside the U.S. and remain at large, according to the release.
“The United States implemented terrorism sanctions so that terrorist organizations like Hizballah would be cut off from the goods and services needed to fund violent acts of terrorism,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in the release.
“As alleged, Nazem Ahmad and his co-defendants benefitted from the multi-million-dollar trade in diamonds and artwork even after Ahmad was sanctioned for his involvement with a terrorist organization," Peace said. "Our office will continue to prosecute individuals who evade these sanctions and thereby offer a lifeline to designated foreign terrorist organizations.”
