A Lebanese-Belgian Citizen Extradited to the U.S. on Charges of Financing Hezbollah

A dual citizen of Lebanon and Belgium, accused by the United States of financing the Lebanese group Hezbollah, was extradited from Romania to the U.S. on Tuesday. According to Reuters from New York City, prosecutors stated that this individual, named Mohammad Bazi, faces charges of evading sanctions and money laundering in federal court in Brooklyn, New York. He is alleged to have provided millions of dollars to Hezbollah and was arrested last February for secretly selling real estate in Michigan and transferring the proceeds abroad, actions that violate U.S. sanctions laws. Mohammad Bazi declared his innocence during the court session. According to the judge's ruling, he will remain in custody until the trial. The U.S. Treasury Department placed 58-year-old Mohammad Bazi on its sanctions list in 2018 due to his apparent ties to Hezbollah, which the U.S. government designates as a terrorist organization. Prosecutors in Brooklyn recently charged another individual, named Nazem Ahmad, who allegedly provided financial assistance to Hezbollah, with circumventing U.S. sanctions. He had exported diamonds and artworks worth hundreds of millions of dollars.