US sanctions Lebanese businessman for Hezbollah ties

Ahmad Jalal Reda Abdallah, associates are accused of serving Hezbollah's financial network

The US sanctioned Lebanese businessman Ahmad Jalal Reda Abdallah due to his links with Hezbollah on Thursday, according to a statement by the US Treasury.

The sanctions also hit five of his associates and eight of his companies in Lebanon and Iraq, effectively blocking them off from any assets they have in the US and legal transactions with Americans.

“Hezbollah has built a web of businesses to hide its activities and generate funds for its destabilizing activities, all at the expense of accountability and public safety in Lebanon and the region,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said.

“The designation of this network demonstrates the US government’s commitment to protect Lebanon’s private sector and financial system from Hezbollah’s abuse by targeting and exposing the group’s financial activities.”

Abdallah has supported the Iranian-backed, Lebanese Shia party as an official and part of the group’s global financial network, the statement said.

The Treasury also said Abdallah coordinates business activities and budgets with sanctioned senior Hezbollah financial facilitators

Among those sanctioned alongside him is his brother, Ali Reda Abdallah, who “was expelled from Sweden in the 1990s and deported as a result of his activities on behalf of Hezbollah and for plotting an attack on the Israeli Embassy in Stockholm.”

This comes as Lebanon's elections left Hezbollah's alliance without a ruling majority.