Blood Diamonds, Picassos, and Illicit Financing in Africa

10/18/23 • 39 min

Diamonds are an excellent way to smuggle and launder money - they’re very liquid, can’t be sniffed out by dogs, don’t set off metal detectors, and are easy to conceal. Similarly, illicit funds can be laundered and stored by investing in artwork. These luxury items link Hezbollah headquarters in Beirut to the blood diamond trade in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, art galleries in Côte d’Ivoire, and illicit business activities in South Africa.

Guest:

Joseph Palazzo is the Deputy Chief of the Special Financial Investigations Unit within the U.S. Department of Justice’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS).

Breaking Hezbollah’s Golden Rule is hosted by Dr. Matthew Levitt from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

It is produced by Anouk Millet from Earshot Strategies, and written by Dr. Levitt, Lauren von Thaden, Camille Jablonski, and Delaney Soliday, research assistants at The Washington Institute.

Explore my map and timeline of Hezbollah’s Worldwide activities.

For a full transcript of the episode, a list of sources, recommended reading, and information on our guests, visit our website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Guest:

Joseph Palazzo is the Deputy Chief of the Special Financial Investigations Unit within the U.S. Department of Justice’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS).

Breaking Hezbollah’s Golden Rule is hosted by Dr. Matthew Levitt from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

It is produced by Anouk Millet from Earshot Strategies, and written by Dr. Levitt, Lauren von Thaden, Camille Jablonski, and Delaney Soliday, research assistants at The Washington Institute.

Explore my map and timeline of Hezbollah’s Worldwide activities.

For a full transcript of the episode, a list of sources, recommended reading, and information on our guests, visit our website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

"A Jumble of Overlapping Plots" in Baku

In 2008, Azerbaijani authorities thwarted a Hezbollah plot to target an Israeli Independence Day celebration and kidnap the Israeli ambassador in Baku. Two Hezbollah operatives were arrested, tried, and convicted, but the group was not deterred by this setback. By 2011, Hezbollah and Iran had formulated “a jumble of overlapping plots” that officials discovered to be part of a coordinated campaign to assassinate foreign diplomats in at least seven countries, including in Azerbaijan.

Guests:

Ambassador Arthur Lenk, former Israeli Ambassador to Azerbaijan (2005-2009)
Mahammad Mammadov, Research Fellow at the Topchubashov Center in Baku, Azerbaijan
Zohar Palti, Viterbi International Fellow at The Washington Institute
Joby Warrick, national security reporter at The Washington Post

Breaking Hezbollah’s Golden Rule is hosted by Dr. Matthew Levitt from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

It is produced by Anouk Millet from Earshot Strategies, and written by Dr. Levitt, Lauren von Thaden, and Camille Jablonski, research assistants at The Washington Institute.

Explore my map and timeline of Hezbollah’s Worldwide activities.

For a full transcript of the episode, a list of sources, recommended reading, and information on our guests, visit our website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

Hezbollah’s Digital Footprint

40 years ago this week, Hezbollah blew up the barracks of U.S. Marine and French military peacekeepers in Beirut, killing about 300 people. The group continues to carry out attacks, but has developed the means to complement and support these real-life operations through online activities. Hezbollah was one of the first non-state actors to build up a digital presence to conduct cyber operations against its enemies. The group also uses some unconventional means to recruit and radicalize followers and engages in cyber attacks and sleuthing targeting its enemies. Today, Hezbollah even produces its own first-person shooter video games in which gamers kill Israeli soldiers to promote its vision of the world to impressionable youth. This week, we shine our spotlight on Hezbollah’s digital footprint.

Guests:

Galen Lamphere-Englund, co-founder, Extremism and Gaming Research Network.
Alma Keshavarz, official, U.S. Cyber Command.
Douglas London, former official, Clandestine Service, CIA.

Breaking Hezbollah’s Golden Rule is hosted by Dr. Matthew Levitt from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

It is produced by Anouk Millet from Earshot Strategies, and written by Dr. Levitt, Lauren von Thaden, and Camille Jablonski, research assistants at The Washington Institute.

Explore my map and timeline of Hezbollah’s Worldwide activities.

For a full transcript of the episode, a list of sources, recommended reading, and information on our guests, visit our website.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.