A Sri Lankan gemstone agency, that was key to sanctioned terrorist facilitator Ahmed Luqman Talib’s revenue period in assist of al-Qaida, continued doing enterprise after Talib was sanctioned and arrested, in step with Kharon, a worldwide security and commerce intelligence agency.
Talib and a gemstone enterprise that he owned in Australia had been sanctioned by the U.S. Division of the Treasury in October 2020, an movement adopted by his arrest by Australian police in 2021 and the designation of two of his kinfolk and enterprise associates further these days by the U.S. authorities in November 2022.
Correct Gems, a gemstone shopping for and promoting agency based totally in Sri Lanka, was a key affiliate in Talib’s revenue period to assist al-Qaida.
The shopping for and promoting agency shares an cope with inside the south-west coast of Sri Lanka with Mohammed Haris Nizar, who’s one amongst Talib’s kinfolk and enterprise companions most these days sanctioned by the U.S. authorities on November 9.
Throughout the fall of 2020, Correct Gems shipped worthwhile stones value better than USD 100,000 to Talib and Sons Pty Ltd, the Australian gemstone agency owned by Talib that was sanctioned in 2020, in step with commerce data reviewed by Kharon.
Talib’s and Nizar’s enterprise dealings in Sri Lanka have generated virtually USD 200,000 per yr in income since 2018, and the overwhelming majority of Talib’s income was derived from one-third of those proceeds, in step with the US Treasury.
Correct Gems continued to ship merchandise to prospects in 2021 after Ahmed Talib and his agency had been sanctioned by the U.S. authorities.
The worldwide path of Talib’s al-Qaida facilitation group extends into South America. Al-Qaida facilitator Ahmed Talib was moreover a managing affiliate of the Brazil-based agency Ottoman Commerce Caravan Importacao e Exportacao Ltda. in 2020, in step with firm data.
One different supervisor of Ottoman Commerce Caravan is Kais Altabbaa, who concurrently labored for Brazilian jewelry enterprise Aisha Stones, which shares an cope with and telephone numbers with Ottoman Commerce Caravan.
Altabbaa himself purchased and shipped repeated small portions of robust gems to Correct Gems in December 2020, in step with commerce data reviewed by Kharon.
Terrorist financing risks of commerce in worthwhile metals and stones had been the subjects of every the U.S. anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) rule for sellers in worthwhile metals, stones, or jewels, adopted in 2005, and the 2008 Financial Movement Exercise Energy (FATF) steering on the risk-based technique to AML/CFT for sellers in worthwhile metals and stones.
Larger than a decade later, these terrorist financing risks proceed to draw the attention of U.S. and worldwide authorities.
Provide: KHARON
