On January 9th, 2008, the US Treasury of Foreign Assets Control created a new designation code within the SDN list called IRAQ3. OFAC subsequently designated four individuals and one entity under this new code. World-Check is proud to announce that its team of researchers had already identified and profiled three of the individuals namely Abu Mastafa al-Sheibani, Isma'il Hafiz Al lami aka Abu Dura and Mich'an Rakin Thamin in 2006, and the entity al-Zawra Television Station in January 2007.
"World-Check has once again kept clients ahead of financial, regulatory and reputation risk by identifying not only these heightened risk individuals and entity years before they were officially sanctioned, but also by revealing their relationship networks, where the real risk often lies" said David Leppan, CEO and founder of World-Check. "Keeping track of the financial dealings of high risk individuals and their associates is tantamount to securing the global financial system against exploitation for unlawful acts. The proven reliability of our intelligence database to identify, ahead of official authorities, the risks that these individuals pose is proven time and again".
Abu Mustafa Al-Sheibani's name first appeared on the Iraqi government's "41 most wanted terror suspects" list in July 2006. He is reportedly the head of the Sheibani Network, a paramilitary extremist organization largely based in Baghdad and Southern Iraq. Sheibani is believed to be responsible for the growing use of explosively formed projectile devices in Iraq. A Central Criminal Court of Iraq arrest warrant for Sheibani was issued on April 12, 2005 and a reward of up to $200,000 for information leading to his capture is pending approval.
Isma'il Hafiz Al lami (aka Abu Dura) was first profiled by World-Check in December 2006 for the atrocities he is suspected of perpetrating against Sunnis that have earned him notoriety and helped plunge Iraq into civil war. He is variously reported as a rogue commander of the shiite Mahdi Army, as an operative of the rival Badr Brigade, or as a free agent. He is purported to operate out of Sadr City and is reportedly married to the sister of Hadi al-Amari, leader of the Badr Brigade. According to OFAC Abu Dura and his group actively target Iraqi government officials, Sunni community leaders, and anyone who cooperates with Coalition Forces.
Mish'an Rakin Thamin Al-Jaburi has reported ties to Jihaz al-Mukhabarat al-Amma, Saddam Hussein's intelligence services, and was previously apprehended at Baghdad airport carrying large amounts of cash. He is accused of illicit profiteering and embezzling funds from government programs. In July 2007 he was found guilty of embezzling millions of dollars from funds allocated for the protection of Iraq's oil industry and was sentenced in absentia together with Yezin al-Jubouri to 15 years imprisonment. He is reported to have fled with Yezin al-Jubouri to Syria.
Al-Zawra Television was launched in 2005 and is reportedly owned by Mishan al-Jabouri. The stations' operations were shut down in Tikrit in November 2006 by Iraqi authorities and now it broadcasts from an undisclosed location in Syria via Nilesat satellite which is owned and administered by the Egyptian government. The station was purportedly set up with the aid of the Islamic Army of Iraq (IAI) and the Mujahideen Shura Council (MSC) and is believed to be a media propaganda outlet for al-Qaida and allied Sunni insurgent groups in Iraq. The television station is also suspected of recruiting insurgents against foreign troops in Iraq and encouraging sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shiites.
About World-Check:
World-Check provides its global database of heightened-risk individuals and businesses to more than 2400 institutions, including 46 of the world's 50 largest financial institutions and hundreds of government agencies. The database is updated daily in real-time by World-Check's international research team, and is derived from hundreds of thousands of public sources. Coverage includes Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), money launderers, fraudsters, terrorists and sanctioned entities - plus individuals and businesses from over a dozen other high-risk categories. World- Check's database and tools find direct application in financial compliance, anti-money laundering (AML), Know-Your-Customer (KYC), PEP screening, enhanced due diligence (EDD), fraud prevention, government intelligence and other identity authentication, background screening and risk-prevention practices.
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