Canadian gov't: Hamas, Hezbollah fundraising in country, incl. Hezbollah trading cars, drugs
The 2025 Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risks in Canada detailed the vulnerabilities and risks in Canada's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing legal regime, noting that while the system was comprehensive Canada's open and stable economy made it an attractive target for organized crime and third party enablers.
Some of these Canadian vulnerabilities were exploited by Hamas and Hezbollah, which both fundraised through a variety of methods, including abuse of the banking sectors, money services businesses, cryptocurrencies, charities, non-profit organizations, and criminal activity.
The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) reported that funds suspected of supporting Hezbollah were sent using the used car trade. American sources had observed Hezbollah purchasing cars and selling them around the world, with the proceeds later transported to Lebanon.
According to the August 22 Finance Department assessment, the Port of Montreal is a known link for the shipping of luxury vehicles to Lebanon, as part of the Hezbollah financing network.
The true purpose of the trade and the source of the funds can be obfuscated, particularly through the involvement of intermediaries. It is difficult to know if the destination is a terrorist organization due to shipping through convoluted routings. To combat this vulnerability, the legal regime was expanded in 2025 to allow for the seizure of goods when authorities believe that they are being used as a pretext for illicit conduct.
Organized crime is increasingly being utilized worldwide by terrorist organizations as an intermediary for support and even terrorism, the Finance Ministry warned, with Canada listing several transnational criminal gangs as terrorist entities for their involvement in terrorism.
Hezbollah is also inextricably linked to criminal organizations in its financing schemes. Hezbollah is a major global player in the trade of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, and captagon, with trafficking networks across Latin America, the US, and Canada.
Cryptocurrencies are considered a "very high" vulnerability for Canada, due to the global online reach of decentralized finance platforms, which often don't employ identity verification and client diligence. The Finance Department noted that Hamas and Hezbollah have utilized cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Tether in their financing strategy, but did not specify the extent to which these networks have penetrated Canada. Both were early adopters of cryptocurrencies and use online platforms and social media to raise and move funds.
In the last two years, Canada has introduced provisions to search and seize digital assets of crime, and FINTRAC can disclose financial intelligence to other government agencies if it has reasonable grounds to suspect the information is relevant to terrorism. Digital money services are required to register with FINTRAC, and must notify the body of large or multiple rapid transfers.
Terror groups' long history of using charities, non-profits to fundraise
Only a small subset of non-profits were vulnerable to abuse, argued the department, and they should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In October, Canada and the US proscribed the Vancouver-based Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, which serves as a "sham charity" and proxy of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The financing for terrorism from Canada was assessed as being overall low in volume, but the August 22 report also noted that terrorism didn't require substantial resources to carry out high-impact attacks.
In response to a Toronto Sun report on September 4, the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs urged the Canadian government to quickly "close these gaps to prevent this type of infiltration."
No comments:
Post a Comment