The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) alleges that Nazem Ahmad, a Lebanese collector and dealer who trades in art and diamonds, was indicted on 18th April in New York along with eight other co-conspirators in a vast international scheme to evade sanctions and provide financial support to the militant group Hezbollah.
Sundar Nagarajan, Ahmad’s accountant in Britain, was arrested, but authorities believe the eight other defendants are outside the United States and remain at large. Ahmad is said to be a Lebanon resident and holds dual Belgian and Lebanoni citizenship. His resources in England were frozen on Tuesday.
Matthew S. Axelrod, the assistant secretary of commerce for export enforcement, stated in a statement, “The funding of foreign terrorist organizations like Hezbollah is illegal, regardless of whether that funding comes in the form of cash or the export of high-priced diamonds and art.”
The investigation that led to the indictments on Tuesday involved DHS as well as the departments of Commerce, Justice, State, and Treasury in the United States. It found that after Ahmad was subjected to sanctions in December 2019, entities under his control or acting on his behalf allegedly continued to transact in the United States, importing goods worth more than $207 million and exporting goods worth more than $234 million, primarily diamonds and art.
The “examination addresses the steadfast responsibility of the US and UK states to forestall craftsmanship and precious stone business sectors from turning into a shelter of illegal monetary movement”, Tae D. Johnson, a delegate chief at US Movement and Customs Requirement, said in a proclamation. ” In order to eliminate these nefarious networks, we will make use of every tool in our arsenal.
The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 52 organizations and individuals in nine nations who have ties to Ahmad in addition to the indictments against Ahmad and his eight alleged co-conspirators. His daughter Hind Ahmad, who runs the Artual Gallery in Beirut and the gallery DIDA in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, is one of these people. She assisted her father in evading sanctions by arranging deals on his behalf and assisting him in creating an alias through which he was able to continue transacting in the United States, as stated in an announcement made by the Treasury Department.
Hind stated to The New York Times, “I would have never imagined this would ever be possible.” She claimed that the accusations against her father were the result of lies told by his enemies in Lebanon and denied the claims that her father was contributing to the financing of Hezbollah.
Ahmad has owned works by Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, and others at various times. His Instagram account features images of works by numerous established and upcoming artists, including paintings by rising artists Lucy Bull and Flora Yukhnovich and classic Modern and contemporary figures like Jean-Michel Basquiat and Mark Rothko. After sanctions were imposed on him in December 2019, the Justice Department claims that Ahmad obtained works of art worth more than $450,000 within the United States and $780,000 from US individuals outside the United States.
On the 40th anniversary of the bombing of the US embassy in Beirut on April 18, 1983, which resulted in the deaths of 63 people, including 32 Lebanese citizens and 17 Americans, US authorities made the announcement of the new indictments and sanctions against Ahmad and his associates. The attack was attributed to Hezbollah by US authorities. At the time it was the deadliest assault on a US discretionary office.
