Romania Hands Over Lebanese National Accused of Funding Hezbollah to Washington

Romanian prosecutors announced that they handed over a dual Lebanese-Belgian national to the United States over charges of funding the Lebanese Hezbollah. They added that he would appear before a federal court in Brooklyn today, Wednesday, on charges of evading sanctions and money laundering. Mohammed Bazi, who is accused by Washington of sending millions of dollars to Hezbollah, was arrested in February for secretly selling properties he owned in Michigan and transferring the funds abroad in violation of U.S. sanctions laws. Romania deported Bazi yesterday, Tuesday. The U.S. Treasury Department had imposed sanctions on Bazi (58 years old) in 2018 due to his alleged connections to the Hezbollah group, which is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. Last week, prosecutors in Brooklyn charged an individual named Nazem Ahmad with funding Hezbollah and evading U.S. sanctions by exporting diamonds and artwork valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.