Alleged Hezbollah associate extradited from Cyprus to the US

A Lebanese man, thought to be associated with Hezbollah, has been extradited from Cyprus to the US on money laundering charges, the US Department of Justice announced on Saturday.

Ghassan Diab, 37, was extradited to Miami, Florida, on Friday where he will face trial.

Diab is accused of “the laundering of drug proceeds through the use of the black-market peso exchange in support of Hezbollah’s global criminal support network”.

According to Diab’s arrest warrant in the US, the 37-year-old Lebanese man was allegedly a relative of a senior Hezbollah member, the National reported.

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He is set to face trial for several felonies including two counts of conspiracy to launder over $100,000, two counts of unlicensed transmission of currency over $100,000 and two counts of unlawful use of a two-way communications device to facilitate money laundering activities.

The charges against Diab were initially announced in October 2016, when Diab was identified as an alleged Hezbollah associate, as part of an operation by the US’ Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to crackdown on money laundering.

Diab was later arrested under an international warrant on 9 March 2019, upon arrival from Beirut, Lebanon, in Cyprus’ Larnaca International Airport.

A Cypriot court later ruled Diab could be extradited to the US in late September last year, according to the Justice Department’s announcement. An extradition treaty between Cyprus and the US was signed in 2006.

A Cypriot national, Joshua Polloso Epifaniou, 21, who is wanted in Georgia and Atlanta was extradited alongside Diab. Epifaniou is the first Cypriot national to be extradited from his home country to face trial in the US.

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The Justice Department noted, however, that the charges “are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law”.

Commenting on the extraditions, the Acting Assistant Attorney General Brian C. Rabbitt of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said: “These successful extraditions demonstrate the commitment of the Department of Justice to support local, state and federal law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and our strong working relationship with dedicated foreign partners who assist in apprehending foreign fugitives wherever they may be hiding.”

Adding, “thanks to the efforts of our law enforcement partners in Cyprus, Ghassan Diab and Joshua Polloso Epifaniou will now be held accountable in the United States for their alleged crimes.”