U.S. Sanctions 10 Over Hizballah Cash Courier Network Moving Hundreds of Millions
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated 10 individuals it says were part of a cash-transfer network used to move funds between Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and Hizballah.
According to Treasury’s 20 August 2026 action, the network used couriers travelling on commercial airline flights between Lebanon, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Iran to move up to hundreds of millions of dollars across jurisdictions. Treasury said the structure provided Hizballah with access to foreign currency outside the formal financial system and helped it evade sanctions.
Courier network and exchange-house links
Treasury identified Turkish businessman Yunus Alper Yilmaz as the manager of the network. OFAC said Yilmaz used Türkiye-based currency exchange houses as fronts for business dealings and provided front companies and bank accounts for transfers linked to the IRGC-QF.
OFAC also designated Halil Ibrahim Kacmaz and Onder Dede, whom Treasury described as collecting cash from exchange houses on Yilmaz’s behalf. Vasfi Akyuz was identified as a logistics coordinator who also acted as a courier.
Six additional individuals — Mehmet Akyuz, Mehmet Acur, Feyyad Karasalih, Masoud Mousafar, Gulay Kaya Savci and Emrah Ayaz — were designated for allegedly participating in the physical movement of cash, including transporting funds to Lebanon on commercial flights.
The action reflects a financing method that deliberately reduces reliance on conventional cross-border banking channels. Cash couriers, exchange houses, front companies and corporate bank accounts can be used together to separate the physical movement of value from the underlying source and beneficiary, complicating sanctions screening and financial-trail reconstruction.
Hizballah redesignated
OFAC also redesignated Hizballah under U.S. counterterrorism authorities, citing its service to the Iranian regime under the direction of the IRGC-QF. The U.S. Department of State said the investigation and disruption of the courier network resulted from close coordination with Turkish authorities.
As a result of the OFAC designations, property and interests in property of the designated persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are generally blocked, and transactions involving them are generally prohibited unless authorised by OFAC.
The action is a sanctions designation, not a criminal conviction. The allegations concerning the network and its participants are Treasury’s stated basis for the sanctions action.
