U.S SEIZES $150 MILLION IN U.S. BANKS SAYING IT’S HEZBOLLAH LINKED CASH

U.S. officials have seized $150 million in connection with a scheme they say illegally laundered moneys through the U.S. using banks here with links to Hezbollah, the Lebanon based militant group. The moneys were seized from accounts of the Lebanese Canadian Bank (LCB) and two exchange houses. In a civil complaint the Department of Justice said that at least $329 million was transferred by LCB and other Lebanese financial institutions between 2007 and 2011 to purchase used cars to be shipped to WEst Africa to be sold. The moneys were sent to Lebanon via a Hezbollah controlled money laundering network said the complaint. The same network hid and transferred hundreds of millions of dollars from WEst Africa to Lebanon. More seizures are anticipated.