A Sri Lankan gemstone firm, that was key to sanctioned terrorist facilitator Ahmed Luqman Talib’s income technology in assist of al-Qaida, continued doing enterprise after Talib was sanctioned and arrested, in line with Kharon, a world safety and commerce intelligence firm.

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 motion adopted by his arrest by Australian police in 2021 and the designation of two of his kin and enterprise associates extra not too long ago by the U.S. authorities in November 2022.

Proper Gems, a gemstone buying and selling firm based mostly in Sri Lanka, was a key accomplice in Talib’s income technology to assist al-Qaida.

The buying and selling firm shares an tackle within the south-west coast of Sri Lanka with Mohammed Haris Nizar, who’s certainly one of Talib’s kin and enterprise companions most not too long ago sanctioned by the U.S. authorities on November 9.

Within the fall of 2020, Proper Gems shipped treasured stones price greater than USD 100,000 to Talib and Sons Pty Ltd, the Australian gemstone firm owned by Talib that was sanctioned in 2020, in line with commerce knowledge reviewed by Kharon.

Talib’s and Nizar’s enterprise dealings in Sri Lanka have generated practically USD 200,000 per yr in revenue since 2018, and the vast majority of Talib’s revenue was derived from one-third of these proceeds, in line with the US Treasury.

Proper Gems continued to ship merchandise to prospects in 2021 after Ahmed Talib and his firm had been sanctioned by the U.S. authorities.

The worldwide path of Talib’s al-Qaida facilitation community extends into South America. Al-Qaida facilitator Ahmed Talib was additionally a managing accomplice of the Brazil-based firm Ottoman Commerce Caravan Importacao e Exportacao Ltda. in 2020, in line with company knowledge.

One other supervisor of Ottoman Commerce Caravan is Kais Altabbaa, who concurrently labored for Brazilian jewellery enterprise Aisha Stones, which shares an tackle and phone numbers with Ottoman Commerce Caravan.

Altabbaa himself bought and shipped repeated small quantities of tough gems to Proper Gems in December 2020, in line with commerce knowledge reviewed by Kharon.

Terrorist financing dangers of commerce in treasured metals and stones had been the topics of each the U.S. anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) rule for sellers in treasured metals, stones, or jewels, adopted in 2005, and the 2008 Monetary Motion Activity Power (FATF) steering on the risk-based strategy to AML/CFT for sellers in treasured metals and stones.

Greater than a decade later, these terrorist financing dangers proceed to attract the eye of U.S. and worldwide authorities.

Supply: KHARON