US sanctions Sri Lanka-based businessman from Beruwala

November 10, 2022 at 11:07 AM

The United States has imposed sanctions on Sri Lanka-based businessman Mohamad Irshad Mohamad Haris Nizar after being identified as a business associate of a sanctioned al-Qa’ida financial facilitator and external operations plotter.

Mohamad Nizar is accused of having conducted business activities to assist al-Qa’ida financial facilitator Ahmed Luqman Talib, along with Musab Turkmen a Türkiye-based businessman.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)  previously designated Talib for facilitating the international movement of individuals and finances in furtherance of al-Qa’ida’s objectives. 

In a statement, the US Department of the Treasury said Mohamad Irshad Mohamad Haris Nizar aka Nizar is a Sri Lanka-based business partner of Talib. 

As of mid-2018, Talib and Nizar were joint representatives of the same business and Nizar has been Talib’s business partner in Sri Lanka since at least late 2018. 

The US Department of the Treasury said their business dealings in Sri Lanka have generated nearly $200,000 per year in profit; the majority of Talib’s income was derived from one-third of those proceeds. Nizar is also a relative of Talib.

Nizar is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to, or in support of, Talib, it added.

“Treasury is taking this action to further disrupt a transnational al-Qa’ida financial facilitation and operational plotting network,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson. “The United States continues to work with our foreign partners to counter the operational and financial activities of al-Qa’ida and its associates, wherever they may be.”

The US Department of the Treasury further said these individuals are being designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, which targets terrorist groups and their supporters. 

OFAC designated Talib pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, on October 19, 2020, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, al-Qa’ida. 

Talib conducted business around the world, including in Brazil, Colombia, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Türkiye, and the Gulf, the department added.

Full statement : https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1088 (NewsWire)