Lebanese businessman, Hezbollah supporter, charged with evading

A Beirut businessman accused of presiding over a multi-billion dollar commodities shipping empire and evading US sanctions for financing terrorism pleaded not guilty to an 11-count, criminal indictment unsealed in Washington on Thursday.

Kassim Tajideen, 62, a dual Lebanese-Belgian citizen, was charged March 7 with conspiracy, fraud and money laundering, allegedly operating a network of companies from Africa to the Middle East that dealt in secret with US companies after sending tens of millions of dollars to the Shiite militant group and political party Hezbollah, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.

The prosecution of Tajideen, who was extradited to the United States after his arrest March 12 in Morocco, marked the latest moves in a long-running United States effort to ramp up financial pressure against the Iran-supported Hezbollah, whose militant wing has been a US designated terrorist organization since 1997 and is now fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria’s civil war.

Tajideen and his brothers, Ali and Husayn, lead a family business that has dominated poultry and rice markets, amassed real estate, and is reportedly active in construction and diamonds from Lebanon to the United Arab Emirates to west Africa, where Tajideen settled in Sierra Leone with his family in 1976. 

The three brothers were added to the US government’s terror sanctions list in 2009 and 2010 for their prominent support of Hezbollah.

“The investigation of this case and the arrest and extradition of this defendant demonstrates our commitment to enforcing vitally important sanctions laws that are in place to protect our national security and foreign policy interests,” US Attorney Channing D. Phillips of Washington said in a statement announcing the arrest with senior Justice Department and federal law enforcement officials. 

“Because of the hard work of law enforcement here and abroad, Kassim Tajideen will now face charges in an American courtroom.”

On Friday, U.S. officials said Tajideen’s arrest capped Project Cassandra, a two-year Drug Enforcement Administration-led and customs-aided investigation into Hezbollah’s global logistics and financing arm.

According to a 27-page indictment, Tajideen allegedly secretly restructured his multi-billion-dollar business after his May 2009 US Treasury terrorist designation banned him from US business dealings.

US authorities alleged that Tajideen and conspirators used new business names and misrepresented ownership to complete at least 47 fraudulent wire transfers totaling more than $27 million to unwitting US vendors for illegal, unlicensed good.

Source: MENA