The U.S. government has imposed sanctions on a Ugandan company among 16 entities and individuals linked to a multinational business network that raises and launders funds for the al-Shabaab terrorist group in Somalia.
In a statement released on Monday, sanctioned Haleel Commodities Ltd, which is based in Dubai and has subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, and Cyprus.
“Uganda-based Haleel Commodities LTD is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13244, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, directly or indirectly, Farhan Hussein Hayder, a person whose property and interest in property are proposed to be blacked pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended,” the U.S government said.
The U.S government also sanctioned Kenya’s Crown Bus Services which they said has been used to support al-Shabaab’s logistical operations.
Dubai-based Haleel Commodities L.L.C., also known as Haleel Group, is also implicated as a key financier of the terror group.
The U.S. says the company relies on the leaders of Haleel Group, as well as its branches and subsidiaries in Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, and Cyprus to generate and launder funds.
Haleel Group’s subsidiaries in Cyprus include Haleel Finance Ltd, Haleel Holdings, and Haleel Ltd. The group also has branches in Kenya (Haleel Commodities Limited) and Uganda (Haleel Commodities Ltd) and operates as Haleel Electronics in Somalia.
Others on the list include UAE-based Qemat Al Najah General Trading; Hassan Abdirahman Mahamed, a Finland-based Somali citizen; Farhan Hussein Hayder, who directs and manages Haleel Group’s branches in Kenya, Uganda, Cyprus, and the UAE; and Abdulkadir Omar Abdullahi, who is associated with Haleel Group’s Uganda branch as its director, along with Omar Sheikh Ali Hilowle and Hayder.
Implications
The US government says that as a result of the sanctions, all property and interests in property of the individuals and entities named above, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by them, individually, or with other blocked persons, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control which is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department.
“OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in property of designated or blocked persons.”
Furthermore, engaging in certain transactions with the individuals designated today entails risk of secondary sanctions pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended. Pursuant to this authority, OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on the opening or maintaining in the United States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant transaction on behalf of a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.”
