How it works and who is who in the Triple Frontier Hijazi network

Paraguayan authorities on Tuesday arrested Kassem Mohamad Hijazi, accused of money laundering in the troubled area of ​​La Triple frontier, in a joint operation with the United States, where he will be extradited. In addition, the Brazilian of Lebanese descent, along with three other members of the sophisticated international money laundering network, they were sanctioned by the US State Department.

Hijazi, who had the base of the organization in Ciudad del Este, worked as a dispatcher in Paraguay, where he had close ties with The politicians, cops, prosecutors and owners of foreign exchange companies, who provided him with protection and economic power to operate in the region.

In addition, his relations were of the highest level, he maintained close contacts with those responsible for the Paraguayan executive, which allowed him to no legal action will be taken against your illegal organization.

Hijazi employed companies of import and export, such as España Informática SA, to transport goods from the United States and sell them in Paraguay. The money he got from this company was channeled through the exchange offices and banks in Ciudad del Este to send it to United States, China and Hong Kong, among other places.

According to the survey, intermediaries paid bribes to port workers, dispatchers and other Paraguayan customs officials to process imports and exports through ports of entry into Paraguay.

In addition, he had Spain as a base to coordinate with suppliers of United States and China import electronic equipment into Paraguay, avoiding taxes and laundering money with this activity.

The head of the country’s National Anti-Drugs Secretariat, Zully Rolón, said that the merchant captured in Ciudad del Este is considered “a consolidated priority witness of high strategic value for the United States”.

“This is the culmination of a year of intelligence work we succeeded in arresting this person who is allegedly involved in money laundering. This is a capture for extradition purposes “Rolón pointed out.

Your catch coincides with an in-country assessment of compliance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards, created to fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.

As detailed in his Twitter account by prosecutor Marcelo Pecci, the arrest of Kassem Mohamad Hijazi is of great strategic value for Paraguay and the United States, since it would play a crucial role in providing the resources and infrastructure necessary to facilitate money laundering services generated by international organized criminal groups.

Who is who

Kassem Mohamad Hijazi He had been working as a dispatcher in Paraguay since 2017 and was the head of the organization. Had the ability to wash hundreds of millions of dollars, according to the US Treasury Department.

According to Paraguayan newspapers, Kassem was a well-known merchant in Eastern Town, where he walked freely without any security.

Khalil Ahmad Hijazi is an associate of Kassem in his money laundering network. In addition, he is the president of the importing company Spain Informática SA.

According to the American authorities, Khalil is sanctioned for “having materially helped, sponsored or provided financial, material or technological support for articles or services or in support of Kassem ”.

For its part, Liz Paola Doldán González He was also identified as a middleman who worked with shipments from the United States. Intermediaries often pay bribes to Paraguayan port workers, brokers and customs officials to process imports and exports through Paraguayan customs.

In 2019, Doldán was indicted by the Paraguayan justice for a case of smuggling on a large scale mobile phones through the company Mobile Zone. The woman, who generated millionaire earnings with the illegal operation, He registered the devices with customs at a much lower price to pay less tax.

On the other hand, among the companies sanctioned are Spain Informática SA, Emprendimientos Inmobiliarios Misiones SA, Apolo Informática SA, Mundo Informático Paraguay SA and Mobile ZOne International Import-Export SRL

The US Secretary of State, Antoine Blink, said in a statement that the sanctions “they represent a global effort by the government to fight corruption at the triple border between Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay ”.

As a result of this measure, the assets that these persons and entities may hold under US jurisdiction are frozen and Financial transactions with US financial institutions are prohibited.

The triple frontier of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil is an area of ​​concern for the United States and other countries. Historically, it is an attractive area with a loosely controlled financial environment for terrorist and criminal activity.

In the region there is a large number of exchange houses and money laundering activities are carried out through imports and exports, the electronic marketplace and the automotive sector, according to the US government.

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