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U.S. car dealerships part of ‘mind-boggling’ international criminal enterprise, U.S. charges
By Michael Isikoff National investigative correspondent / NBC News
The Treasury Department on Thursday blacklisted one of the largest banks in Lebanon, accusing it of being part of what one official calls a “mind-boggling” international criminal enterprise that is laundering hundreds of millions of dollar in illegal drug money every year for the benefit of Hezbollah.
The action, which was announced Thursday by Undersecretary of Treasury Stuart Levey, is the latest development in a four-year investigation that officials say has uncovered links between one of Colombia’s biggest drug traffickers, top leaders of Hezbollah and the Iranian Government.
As part of the alleged scheme, proceeds from the drug empire of Colombian trafficker Ayman Saied Joumaa, generated from massive shipments of cocaine to West Africa and then on to Europe, are being laundered through the Lebanese Canadian Bank, or LCB — a Beirut-based financial institution with $5 billion in assets and 35 branches, including an office in Montreal. Some of the money was then rerouted through about 50 used car dealerships in the United States, according to U.S. officials.
The profits ultimately benefit Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shiite Muslim group considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. government, which is suspected of using some of the revenue to rebuild its military arsenal and other infrastructure damaged in its 2006 war with Israel, the officials said.
As a result of Thursday’s action, LCB has been designated as a financial institution of “primary money laundering concern.” Under a provision of the U.S. Patriot Act, Treasury is proposing to ban it from engaging in any transactions with U.S. financial institutions. That rule would take effect after 60 days unless LCB takes corrective action, officials said.
Bechara Moussa, a representative at LCB’s Montreal office, told NBC: “The general management in Lebanon is aware of these rumors and by tomorrow they will issue a statement.”
