Paraguayan money man in middle of Miami, New York laundering cases faces extradition

Situated in the so-called Tri-Border Area of Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, Ciudad del Este is renowned for selling everything from counterfeit electronics products to contraband cigarettes at steep discounts with low taxes.

But increasingly, U.S. authorities have been developing several money-laundering cases targeting the flow of billions through the Paraguayan hub, which they consider a giant washing machine for Latin American drug profits, knockoff consumer goods and terrorist fund-raising.

Authorities say some of that money — minus 15 percent in fees charged by Paraguayan and other currency exchanges — ends up in the coffers of Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated terrorist group aligned with Iran.

This month, a Lebanese businessman who owns a major money-exchange business in Ciudad del Este is expected to be extradited to Miami and eventually New York. Nader Mohamad Farhat is perhaps the biggest Tri-Border Area catch yet for the feds.

“Farhat is a known money launderer for narcotics organizations and other illicit organizations,” New York federal prosecutor Charles Kelly declared in a court filing.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article226938854.html

The secret backstory of how Obama let Hezbollah off the hook

https://www.politico.com/interactives/2017/obama-hezbollah-drug-trafficking-investigation/