Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has succeeded in allocating funds in various accounts outside Lebanon, estimated at $1.6 billion, according to a Sunday report in Al Hadath (خصص 1.6 مليار دولار.. نصرالله يستعد منذ سنوات لخطة فرار واختفاء), citing the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.
For years, Nasrallah has been preparing for a doomsday scenario in which he will be forced to flee and disappear, Al Hadath writes, and “according to information from various sources, the money earmarked to accomplish this disappearance is somewhat fraudulent, involving transferring large sums of money to accounts abroad that have been turned over to his family members and close associates. According to various estimates, Nasrallah has succeeded in setting aside funds in various accounts outside Lebanon estimated at $1.6 billion.”
Various sources have been talking for years about Nasrallah’s Plan B, or his “Resurrection scenario.” This plan, which includes the secretary-general of Hezbollah’s fleeing and disappearing, was allocated huge funds from fraudulent operations that include transferring large sums of money to accounts abroad, most of which are to his close family.
These operations have been carried out by close associates of Nasrallah, such as family members and high-ranking figures in Hezbollah. There are three prominent figures whom Nasrallah fully trusts to implement this scheme, the first being his second in command, Hashim Safi Al-Din, a Shia cleric, senior Hezbollah official, and Nasrallah’s maternal cousin.
The other Nasrallah’s son, Jawad Nasrallah. due to his good links abroad, according to the same sources.
A third person is Ashraf Safi El-Din, a lawyer with offices in Beirut and California with experience building corporate structures for Hezbollah around the world that launder money on its behalf.
The money is diverted to Brazil and Paraguay in Latin America; Liberia in West Africa; and Hong Kong, using a secret bank account at MEAB Bank in Beirut.
While some of the funds are kept in the target locations, others are transferred back to various bank accounts in Switzerland managed by one of Hezbollah’s European assets. Hezbollah operatives also transfer cash on Middle East Airlines flights to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and then deliver it across the border to Liberia.
In Hong Kong, Hezbollah has four shell companies in the fields of real estate and import and export. One of these companies, Unique Stars International Limited, is controlled by the Amhaz brothers, well-known Hezbollah financiers.
The fourth and final corporate structure is in the United States. Ashraf Safi El-Din has established dozens of companies in the past that deal mainly in real estate. For this particular corporate structure, Safi El-Din acquired two bankrupt American real estate companies. Funds are transferred to these companies from Lebanon to another Ashraf al-Din company in the United States called Premiere Equities and Investment Group Inc., and from these companies, funds make their way in small sums (less than $ 10,000) to an account in Europe under the name Ashraf.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has succeeded in allocating funds in various accounts outside Lebanon, estimated at $1.6 billion, according to a Sunday report in Al Hadath, citing the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.
For years, Nasrallah has been preparing for a doomsday scenario in which he will be forced to flee and disappear, Al Hadath writes, and “according to information from various sources, the money earmarked to accomplish this disappearance is somewhat fraudulent, involving transferring large sums of money to accounts abroad that have been turned over to his family members and close associates. According to various estimates, Nasrallah has succeeded in setting aside funds in various accounts outside Lebanon estimated at $1.6 billion.”
Various sources have been talking for years about Nasrallah’s Plan B, or his “Resurrection scenario.” This plan, which includes the secretary-general of Hezbollah’s fleeing and disappearing, was allocated huge funds from fraudulent operations that include transferring large sums of money to accounts abroad, most of which are to his close family.
These operations have been carried out by close associates of Nasrallah, such as family members and high-ranking figures in Hezbollah. There are three prominent figures whom Nasrallah fully trusts to implement this scheme, the first being his second in command, Hashim Safi Al-Din, a Shia cleric, senior Hezbollah official, and Nasrallah’s maternal cousin.
The other Nasrallah’s son, Jawad Nasrallah. due to his good links abroad, according to the same sources.
A third person is Ashraf Safi El-Din, a lawyer with offices in Beirut and California with experience building corporate structures for Hezbollah around the world that launder money on its behalf.
The money is diverted to Brazil and Paraguay in Latin America; Liberia in West Africa; and Hong Kong, using a secret bank account at MEAB Bank in Beirut.
While some of the funds are kept in the target locations, others are transferred back to various bank accounts in Switzerland managed by one of Hezbollah’s European assets. Hezbollah operatives also transfer cash on Middle East Airlines flights to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and then deliver it across the border to Liberia.
In Hong Kong, Hezbollah has four shell companies in the fields of real estate and import and export. One of these companies, Unique Stars International Limited, is controlled by the Amhaz brothers, well-known Hezbollah financiers.
The fourth and final Hezbollah corporate structure is in the United States. Ashraf Safi El-Din has established dozens of companies in the past that deal mainly in real estate. For this particular corporate structure, Safi El-Din acquired two bankrupt American real estate companies. Funds are transferred to these companies from Lebanon to another Ashraf al-Din company in the United States called Premiere Equities and Investment Group Inc., and from these companies, funds make their way in small sums (less than $ 10,000) to an account in Europe under the name Ashraf.
