US sanctions international network laundering funds for Hamas
In a move aimed at cutting off the militant group’s sources of revenue, the Treasury Department designated a Hamas official, three financial facilitators and six companies.
The Biden administration sanctioned on Tuesday what it described as a network of Hamas financial facilitators and companies across the Middle East that generate revenue for the Gaza-based militant group through a secret investment portfolio.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said the expansive network is overseen by Hamas’ Investment Office, which holds more than $500 million worth of assets and operates companies in Sudan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates.
Among those sanctioned was Hamas official Abdallah Yusuf Faisal Sabri, a Jordanian national based in Kuwait. The department accused Sabri, who has worked in Hamas’ Finance Ministry for several years, of overseeing the group’s operational expenses and the transfer of large sums of money.
The department also sanctioned three financial facilitators and six companies based in Algeria, the UAE, Turkey and Saudi Arabia that are allegedly used by Hamas to conceal and launder funds.
