Man the U.S. Says Financed Hezbollah Admits Trying to Evade Sanctions
The New York Times
Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court to conspiring to violate Treasury Department prohibitions.
For years, U.S. authorities said, Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi funneled millions of dollars to Hezbollah, the militia backed by Iran and based in Lebanon that is currently clashing with Israel.
Because of Mr. Bazzi’s ties to the group, the Treasury Department deemed him a terrorist. The designation prohibited people in the United States from doing business with him or for his benefit.
On Friday, in a Brooklyn federal court, Mr. Bazzi, 60, acknowledged trying to evade those sanctions by using a fake franchise agreement to obtain money from restaurants in Michigan in which he had a secret ownership stake. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to conduct unlawful transactions involving a specially designated global terrorist.
Mr. Bazzi, a dual citizen of Lebanon and Belgium, said in court that he had worked with others to try to transfer the money, even though “I know that such transfer was prohibited.”
The charge to which he pleaded guilty carries a potential fine of up to $1 million and a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, although prosecutors and defense lawyers said on Friday that under federal guidelines he would most likely face a sentencing range of 37 to 46 months in prison.
The scheme began in 2006 when a co-defendant, Talal Khalil Chahine, fled the United States, losing control of a restaurant chain he had owned in Michigan. Federal prosecutors there said Mr. Chahine had skimmed $20 million in restaurant proceeds and sent it to Lebanon. Michigan tax authorities put liens on his investments, federal prosecutors in New York said.
