A dual Lebanese-Belgian citizen accused by the United States of financing Lebanese armed group Hezbollah is expected to plead guilty in a criminal case charging him with sanctions evasion and money-laundering conspiracies.
The U.S. Treasury Department placed Bazzi on its sanctions list in 2018 over his alleged ties to Hezbollah © Mena Today
A dual Lebanese-Belgian citizen accused by the United States of financing Lebanese armed group Hezbollah is expected to plead guilty in a criminal case charging him with sanctions evasion and money-laundering conspiracies.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said in a court filing on Thursday that lawyers for Mohammad Bazzi told them he wishes to change his plea. Bazzi, 60, pleaded not guilty last year to three felony counts, including attempting to transact with a sanctioned terrorist organization.
Bazzi's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Treasury Department placed Bazzi on its sanctions list in 2018 over his alleged ties to Hezbollah, which Washington considers a terrorist organization.
Prosecutors said Bazzi covertly sold real estate he owned in Michigan and transferred the funds abroad, in violation of those sanctions.
Bazzi was extradited to the United States in April 2023 from Romania, where he had been arrested two months prior.
Prosecutors and Bazzi's lawyers jointly asked U.S. District Judge Dora Irizarry to schedule a hearing later this month for Bazzi to change his plea.
Reporting by Luc Cohen
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Monday that Tehran would never give up on its missile programme as it needs such deterrence for its security in a region where Iran's arch-foe Israel is able to "drop missiles on Gaza every day".
Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday that the window was closing for a diplomatic solution to the standoff with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon.
Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told the Qatari newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that "the Houthis' operation to bomb Tel Aviv is a natural result of the Israeli entity's invasion of the entire region."
To make this website run properly and to improve your experience, we use cookies. For more detailed information, please check our Cookie Policy.
Necessary cookies enable core functionality. The website cannot function properly without these cookies, and can only be disabled by changing your browser preferences.