Specially Designated Global Terrorist Mohammad Bazzi Pleads Guilty to Sanctions Evasion

Press Release By the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York

Published on 20th September 2024

Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct and to cause United States persons to conduct unlawful transactions with a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.  The proceeding was held before United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry.  Bazzi also agreed to forfeit the nearly $830,000 that was involved in the illegal transaction, and to be removed from the United States upon completion of his sentence.  When sentenced, Bazzi faces a  maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Cheryl Ortiz, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New Jersey Field Division announced the charges.

“Today, Specially Designated Global Terrorist Mohammad Bazzi accepted responsibility for his role in conspiring to secretly move hundreds of thousands of dollars from the United States to Lebanon in violation of sanctions placed on him for assisting the terrorist group Hizballah,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “This outcome demonstrates our commitment to enforcing sanctions imposed to starve terrorism financiers of funds, and the stark consequences that will be enforced when they are ignored.”

Mr. Peace expressed his appreciation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Romanian authorities for its assistance on the case.

“The guilty plea from Mohammed Bazzi is a result of the collaborative effort DEA New Jersey has with our law enforcement partners, and foreign counterparts, in effectively targeting those individuals and organizations that violate sanctions by providing financial assistance to terrorist organizations, like Hizballah.” stated DEA New Jersey Field Division Special Agent in Charge Cheryl Ortiz.  “The DEA remains committed to disrupting and dismantling these organizations and those who choose to support them financially.”

In May 2018, the United States Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated Bazzi as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist for assisting in, sponsoring, and providing financial, material, and technological support and financial services to Hizballah, a foreign terrorist organization that, since the 1980s, has engaged in numerous terrorist activities, including attacks against American military members, government employees, and civilians abroad.  According to the OFAC designation, Bazzi is a key Hizballah financier who has provided millions of dollars to Hizballah over the years, generated from his business activities in Belgium, Lebanon, Iraq, and throughout West Africa.  As a result of the designation, Bazzi’s interest in any property in the United States were blocked, and all U.S. persons were generally prohibited from transacting business with, or for the benefit of, Bazzi.

Following Bazzi’s designation, Bazzi and his co-defendant Talal Chahine, who remains at large in Lebanon, conspired to force or induce an individual located in the United States (U.S. Person) to liquidate their interests in certain real estate assets located in Michigan and covertly transfer hundreds of thousands of dollars in proceeds of the liquidation out of the United States to Bazzi and Chahine in Lebanon without the requisite OFAC licenses, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

During recorded communications, Bazzi and Chahine proposed numerous methods to conceal from OFAC and law enforcement officials that Bazzi was both the source and destination of the proceeds of the sale and to create the false appearance that the U.S. Person was conducting legitimate arms-length transactions unrelated to Bazzi and Chahine. For example, Bazzi and Chahine proposed that the funds be transferred through:

• a third party in China as part of a fictitious purchase of restaurant equipment from a Chinese manufacturer;

• a third party in Lebanon as part of a fictitious real estate purchase;

• Chahine’s family members in Kuwait as part of fictitious intra-family loans; and

• as part of a fictitious franchising agreement as payment for the rights to operate a Lebanese-based restaurant chain throughout the United States.

Bazzi was arrested in February 2023 by Romanian law enforcement authorities and subsequently extradited to the Eastern District of New York.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.  Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section.  Assistant United States  Attorneys Francisco J. Navarro, Jonathan P. Lax, Nomi D. Berenson, and Robert M. Pollack are in charge of the prosecution, with assistance provided by Trial Attorney Charles Kovats of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section and Trial Attorney Scott A. Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.  Assistant United States Attorney Claire Kedeshian and Senior Law Clerk Alfred Pelargu of the Office’s Asset Recovery Section are handling forfeiture matters. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs assisted with the extradition in this case.

The Defendant:

MOHAMMAD BAZZI
Age: 60
Lebanon, Belgium, and United Kingdom

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-041 (DLI)

Contact

John Marzulli
Danielle Blustein Hass
U.S. Attorney's Office
(718) 254-6323