Alleged Hezbollah financier expected to plead guilty in US sanctions case

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) - 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; Editing by Alistair Bell)

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