A Sri Lankan gemstone firm that was key to sanctioned terrorist facilitator Ahmed Luqman Talib’s income era in help of Al-Qaeda, continued doing enterprise after Talib was sanctioned and arrested, a analysis and knowledge analytics firm mentioned.

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 lately by the U.S. authorities in November 2022

A gemstone buying and selling firm based mostly in Sri Lanka, was a key accomplice in Talib’s income era to help Al-Qaeda, an elite analysis and knowledge analytics firm, Kharon, mentioned.

The buying and selling firm shares an tackle within the south-west coast of Sri Lanka with Mohammed Haris Nizar, who’s one in all Talib’s kin and enterprise companions most lately sanctioned by the U.S. authorities on November 9.

Within the fall of 2020, the gemstone buying and selling firm based mostly in Sri Lanka shipped treasured stones value greater than USD 100,000 to Talib and Sons Pty Ltd, the Australian gemstone firm owned by Talib that was sanctioned in 2020, in keeping with commerce knowledge reviewed by Kharon.

Talib’s and Nizar’s enterprise dealings in Sri Lanka have generated practically $200,000 per 12 months in revenue since 2018, and the vast majority of Talib’s earnings was derived from one-third of these proceeds, in keeping with the 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-Qaeda facilitation community extends into South America. Al-Qaeda facilitator Ahmed Talib was additionally a managing accomplice of the Brazil-based firm Ottoman Commerce Caravan Importacao e Exportacao Ltda. in 2020, in keeping 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 offered and shipped repeated small quantities of tough gems to Proper Gems in December 2020, in keeping 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 Process Pressure (FATF) steering on the risk-based method 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. (Colombo Gazette)

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