- Lebanese art collector Nazem Ahmad and eight others were indicted in Brooklyn federal court for allegedly evading U.S. sanctions using a complex web of businesses to disguise millions of dollars in transactions involving art and diamonds.
- Ahmad was accused of funding the militant group Hezbollah and conspiring to defraud American and foreign governments, and money laundering.
- The indictment was part of a series of actions aimed at Ahmad’s global operations, including the announcement of sanctions against 52 individuals and entities linked to him in nine countries by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
- The investigation uncovered about $440 million worth of imports and exports to the U.S. by entities linked to Ahmad after the sanctions were imposed. About $160 million worth of transactions went through the U.S. financial system. Read More