DOWNTOWN — ‘SPECIALLY DESIGNATED GLOBAL TERRORIST’ Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi, 60, pleaded guilty in Brooklyn federal court Friday to conspiring to finance the terrorist terrorist group Hizballah, Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District and Cheryl Ortiz, New Jersey DEA special agent announced in a release.
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,” Peace said, adding that Bazzi faced stark consequences for ignoring sanctions — a maximum of 20 years imprisonment followed by deportation and forfeiture of $828,528. Bazzi was arrested by Romanian law enforcement authorities and extradited to the U.S.
Bazzi provided millions of dollars to Hizballah over the years, generated from his business activities in Belgium, Lebanon, Iraq and throughout West Africa, Peace said. His co-defendant Talal Chahine remains at large in Lebanon.
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