On Thursday, July 18th, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against over a dozen individuals and entities associated with Sa’id al-Jamal, a financier for the Houthi armed group, who is considered a major source of funding for the group.
According to a news release from the U.S. Department of the Treasury on July 18th, several individuals and entities, including Malaysian and Singaporean national Mohammad Roslan Bin Ahmad, also known as Roslan, as well as Chinese national Zhuang Liang, will be sanctioned. These individuals were involved in facilitating illegal transportation for Sa’id al-Jamal’s network and participated in money laundering activities, playing a crucial role in funding the destabilizing activities of the Houthi armed group. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury will freeze their assets.
Sa’id al-Jamal’s network has been transporting Iranian goods, including oil, to provide tens of millions of dollars in funding to the Houthi armed group in Yemen. The sanctions target various aspects of this illicit network, from buyers and intermediaries to insurance providers, ships, and ship management companies, covering all aspects of their business operations.
“The focus of today’s action is to target the financial facilitators, shell companies, and ship network of the Houthi armed group, which serve as the primary source of funding for their destabilizing activities,” said Brian Nelson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. “The Treasury will continue to target key actors who support the operation of this network and the ability of the Houthi armed group to further destabilize the region and threaten international commerce.”
Roslan from Malaysia and Singapore is an illicit freight facilitator, providing ship management and intermediary services for Sa’id al-Jamal’s network and serving as a ship intermediary for illegal trade involving Russia and Venezuela.
Zhuang Liang, a businessman from mainland China, is involved in money laundering and other financial activities related to Sa’id al-Jamal’s network, collaborating with Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-based organizations to promote their illegal commercial activities. Zhuang also assisted Sa’id al-Jamal’s business partner, Houthi armed forces member Abdi Nasir Ali Mahamud, in illegally accessing the international financial system to evade international sanctions.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury stated that the assets of the identified individuals within the U.S. or owned or controlled by U.S. persons will be frozen.
Furthermore, assets of any entity in which one or more sanctioned persons directly or indirectly, individually or jointly, own 50% or more, will also be frozen, unless a general or specific license or exemption is issued by OFAC.
Financial institutions and individuals engaging in certain transactions or financial activities with sanctioned entities and individuals may also face sanctions or enforcement actions.
During the final days of his presidency in 2021, Donald Trump designated the Houthi armed group as a foreign terrorist organization, which was later revoked by President Joe Biden within weeks of taking office.
Following an amended Executive Order 13224 on February 16, 2024, the U.S. re-designated the Houthi armed group as a global terrorist organization.
The Houthi armed group, also known as Ansar Allah, is a Zaydi Shiite movement that has been in conflict with the Yemeni government since 2004. As efforts in Yemen to achieve a ceasefire have been ongoing, the civil war has somewhat subsided. However, the Iran-backed Houthi movement has shifted its focus towards conflicts with Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The Houthi armed group has claimed responsibility for multiple drone and missile attacks on commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea, including the Israeli port city of Eilat, as well as in the Red Sea and adjacent to the Gulf of Aden.