OFAC sanctions senior member of Hizballah operation

Financial Crimes Department of Treasury OFAC Sanctions Of Interest to Non-US Persons

On July 19, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions pursuant to Executive Order 13224 against a senior Hizballah operative allegedly connected to the planning, coordination, and execution of terrorist attacks outside of Lebanon. According to OFAC, the action is part of the Treasury Department’s continued attempts to disrupt “the full range of Hizballah’s illicit financial and facilitation activities.” As a result of the sanctions, “all property and interests in property of this target that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC.” OFAC notes that its regulations “generally prohibit” U.S. persons from participating in transactions with the designated person. The designated individual is also subject to secondary sanctions pursuant to the Hizballah Financial Sanctions Regulations, which implement the Hizballah International Financing Prevention Act of 2015, and allow OFAC the authority to “prohibit or impose strict conditions on the opening or maintaining in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account by a foreign financial institution that knowingly facilitates a significant transaction for Hizballah, or a person acting on behalf of or at the direction of, or owned or controlled by, Hizballah.”