The U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a Lebanon-based gold exchange company and a network of individuals behind a procurement and commodities shipping scheme purportedly tied to Hezbollah. 

U.S. officials accused the gold exchange firm, Jood SARL, of operating at the supervision al-Qard al-Hassan (AQAH) and helping Hezbollah convert its gold reserves into usable funds. The department previously imposed sanctions on AQAH nearly two decades ago, when U.S. officials accused the organization of providing cover for Hezbollah’s financial activity. 

“AQAH masquerades as a non-governmental organization (NGO) under the cover of a Ministry of Interior-granted NGO license, but provides financial services similar to a bank, far beyond activities disclosed in its original registration documents,” the department said. 

The department separately imposed sanctions on what it called an international procurement and commodities shipping scheme tied to Hezbollah financiers, including Ali Qasir, a member of Hezbollah’s finance team. U.S. officials say Qasir coordinated with a cohort of associates to evade sanctions and raise money for the militant group. 

The cohort includes Moscow-based Russian national Andrey Viktorovich Borisov, who works for a previously blacklisted company tied to Hezbollah, and Ibrahim Talal al-Uwayr and Muhammad Amir Alchwiki, whom U.S. officials have accused of managing business deals involving Russia and the sanctioned firm. 

Treasury believes Qasir and other individuals used Turkey-based Platinum Group International Dis Ticaret Limited Sirketi to facilitate exports of “millions of dollars’ worth of fertilizer” from Iran to Turkey while falsely claiming the cargo originated in Oman. 

Read more at the U.S. Treasury Department