On May 2, 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control targeted a sanctions evasion network that supported Hizballah money exchanger Hassan Moukalled and his company, CTEX Exchange, both of which were previously designated by OFAC in January 2023. OFAC designated a total of 5 individuals and 2 entities associated with the network, including CTEX co-founders Andriyah Samir Mushantaf and Bashir Ibrahim Mansur, one of Moukalled’s sons, and CTEX Exchange employee Adnan Mahmoud Youssef who allegedly conducted business with and received more than a million dollars from U.S.-designated Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi, a Hizballah financier. According to OFAC, both designated entities – The Crystal Group and Teleport Company SAL – are owned or controlled by one or more of the newly-designated individuals.
The designations were imposed pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended, which targets terrorist groups and their supporters. As a result of these designations, all property and interests in property of the designated persons within the United States or within the possession or control of a U.S. person are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving a designated person. Entities owned 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.