US Offers Up To $10Mln Reward For Information On Hezbollah's Financial Networks - Treasury

Umer Jamshaid Published April 23, 2019 | 12:05 AM

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2019) The United States is offering up to $10 million for information that would lead to disrupting Hezbollah's financial networks, Assistant Treasury Secretary for Terrorist Financing Marshall Billingslea told reporters on Monday.

"We will award up to $10 million for leads that result in financial disruption whether by US law enforcement, sanctions or other enforcement actions," Billingslea said. "I reiterate, we will pay up to $10 million for information that leads to disruption of Hezbollah's financial networks."

The Treasury official was explaining an offer issued by the State Department's Rewards for Justice Program. The announcement marks the first time the program has offered a reward for information on Hezbollah's global financial networks, the State Department said in a separate press release.

Billingslea said Hezbollah's money making apparatus operates through both formal and informal financial sectors while leaving a transnational paper trail that can implicate scores of individuals and companies.

The US government, he added, seeks information related to any Hezbollah financial sources and institutions - including banks, exchange houses, hawala systems or businesses - that the group uses to raise or move money.

"In support of the Rewards for Justice Program... we will pay for bank records, customs forms, real estate transactions, and anything evidencing money laundering or cash smuggling," Billingslea said. "This includes specifically information on incorporation shareholder documents."

According to the State Department, Hezbollah generates $1 billion a year from Iran, international businesses, donor networks, and money laundering activities.

In 2018, President Donald Trump signed a bill imposing sanctions against Hezbollah for allegedly using civilians as human shields, which came a month after Treasury sanctioned four individuals over their supposed role in coordinating Hezbollah's activities in Iraq. The US State Department designated Hezbollah as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) in 1997 and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in 2001.