FROM THE - CHRONICLES of Monte Friesner – Criminal & Intelligence Analyst and Consulaire for WANTED SA~
~Contributed & Written by Kenneth Rijock ~
Do you have any Lebanese expats in your client base ? Of course you do, but have any of them deposited exactly $25,000, perhaps in cash, this year ? If so, you may have unwittingly participated in laundering a $25,000* survivor payment, made by Hezbollah to the immediate family, or next of kin, of a Hezbollah agent, killed in action in the Syrian Civil War, fighting on the side of the Assad Regime.
The payments, which are in essence hush money, are given to ensure that the relatives of the dead do not publicly mourn their dead, and thereby expose the true extent of Hezbollah involvement in Syria.
Though it is estimated that approximately 300 Hezbollah fighters have been killed in combat in Syria, the true figure may be substantially higher, and Hezbollah is taking a lot of heat in Lebanon, from Sunni and Christian political factions, over its deployments there. It does not want any more publicity about the matter, and widows and children of deceased fighters are being silenced through the payment of what is actually blood money.
If you do find such a deposit, you should notify your compliance officer or MLRO forthwith, so that an enhanced due diligence investigation can be initiated, and, if necessary, a SAR filed.
There are photos of 90 deceased Hezbollah fighters on the Internet; we show some of them here to demonstrate the extent of the organization's involvement in the Syrian conflict.
WANTED SA kindly thanks US Treasury, Kenneth Rijock, AFP, Reuters, BBC, Associated Press, DEA, FBI, ICE, Westlaw, Arutz Sheva, and all the Parties, Press, Journalists, Law Enforcement and Securities forces who have contributed to the many articles and their sincere opinions and statements.
WANTED SA states that the facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of WANTED SA. We do not warrant the accuracy of any of the facts and opinions stated in this article nor do we endorse them or accept any form of responsibility for the articles.