By: The Fatu Network Editorial
Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi, a businessman previously investigated for his investments in The Gambia, has been sentenced to time served after spending two years in custody in the United States, as reported by The Detroit News.
According to U.S. court records, Bazzi pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to scheming with fugitive La Shish founder, Talal Chahine, to wire profits overseas from a stake in the former Middle Eastern restaurant chain based in Metro Detroit. The Detroit News reported that this involved attempting to wire more than $820,000 outside of the United States in violation of Treasury Department sanctions.
Bazzi, who reportedly owned a significant stake in Gampetroleum (The Gambia’s national petroleum company), was designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. Department of Treasury in 2018. The Treasury Department at that time alleged connections between Bazzi and Hezbollah.
During former President Yahya Jammeh’s administration, Bazzi’s business activities in The Gambia’s petroleum and telecommunications sectors were later subject to review by the Janneh Commission of Inquiry.
Court documents show that while U.S. prosecutors requested up to a 46-month sentence, District Judge Dora Irizarry sentenced him to time already served. The court ordered that he will be deported from the United States as part of his conviction.
The case concludes after Bazzi’s guilty plea, which included an agreement to forfeit approximately $830,000 linked to the transactions in question.
