U.S. Designates Two Caribbean Born Nationals ISIS Financiers

By NAN Contributor

News Americas, WASHINGTON, D.C., Thurs. Sept. 20, 2018: The U.S. government on Wednesday designated two Caribbean nationals as financiers of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, (ISIS).

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, (OFAC) took the action against Syria-based, Trinidad-born, US citizen, Emraan Ali and Trinidad-based national, Eddie Aleong.

The US action means that all property and interests in property of Ali and Aleong that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked. U.S. national are also prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

Ali, 51, was designated for acting for or on behalf of ISIS and is accused of being involved in money transfers from Trinidad and Tobago to Syria in support of ISIS.

As of January 2017, Ali, according to OFAC, received and provided funds to Trinidadian ISIS fighters.  The U.S. government claims that for several years, a number of citizens of Trinidad and Tobago in Syria received money transfers through Ali.  In the summer of 2015, Ali reportedly lived at an ISIS guest house in Syria and had been assigned to Raqqah, Syria.

Aleong, 34, was designated for assisting in, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of ISIS.

As of March 2018, the Trinidad-based Aleong allegedly facilitated money transfers to ISIS members in ISIS-controlled territory.  As of January 2017, a Trinidadian ISIS supporter possibly planned to work with Aleong to transfer funds to Ali, who would then provide the funds to Trinidadian ISIS fighters in Syria, the US said.

“While coalition efforts have led to the collapse of ISIS’s self-declared caliphate, Treasury continues to aggressively target financiers supporting ISIS’s radical agenda,” said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. “We are sanctioning individuals involved in financial facilitation to obstruct and deter ISIS financial operations in regions across the world. Our actions coincide with the 10th meeting of the Counter-ISIS Finance Group (CIFG), which includes 52 countries and international organizations committed to disrupting critical sources of ISIS revenue to permanently prevent ISIS from accessing the international financial system.”