Country: Lebanon;

Address: Jnah, Saeb Salam Blvd; Al-Jazeera Bldg, Block A, 1 st Floor, Beirut – Lebanon;

Website: www.achilawfirm.com;

Phone: + 961-71-177779;

ALF Key Personnel:
– Ali Hussein el-Achi – Head of corporate/Commercial/Financial
– Farouk Muhammad Raouf Hammoud – Head of Real Estate/Construction
– Wael Ali Cheaib – Head of Competition/Regulation/Trade
– Rima Hussein – Head of Insolvency/Taxation
– Nisrine Mansour – Head of Family law
– Rasha Suhail Muhammad Mansour – Head of Criminal
– Hussein Ali el-Achi – Head of Domestic and International Affairs

Activities:

Achi Law Firm is a Lebanese firm that provides material services to Hezbollah and other illicit elements involved in violating the oil embargo on Syria. The Firm’s attorneys, cater to the needs of prominent members of Hezbollah’s BAC apparatus as well as those of sanctioned members of Syria’s elite and others who aid Bashar al-Assad regime circumvent the sanctions placed on it;

Achi law firm (hereafter: ALF) was founded in 1983 by Ali Hussein al Achi. The firm seems to specialize in criminal as well as civil matters, including: banking and finance, construction and engineering, property and reals estate, taxation, corporate and commercial.

Achi Law Firm provides material services to Hezbollah and other illicit elements. The Firm’s attorneys, chief among them Ali Hussein al-Achi, cater to the needs of prominent members of Hezbollah’s BAC apparatus as well as to the needs of sanctioned members of Syria’s elite. Given the close relationship between Hezbollah and Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad, it is possible that al-Achi’s connection to Fadi Nabih Nasser on the one hand and his relations with Hezbollah on the other may have had a part in Nasser’s involvement in smuggling oil products into Syria;



ALF represents companies linked to Ali Saleh al-Assi and Mustafa Walid Abu Darwish. The two are also linked by family ties. Their business network extends from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Lebanon. Al-Assi has been sanctioned for laundering for Hezbollah financiers, Tabaja and Tajideen. Abu Darwish and Assi hold shares in two companies that are represented by ALF and were sanctioned by OFAC – Inter Aliment SAL Off Shore and Salasko Offshore SAL. In addition, ALF attorney Wael Ali Cheaib, is also listed as the attorney of another company owned by the two – Amasko Off Shore SAL;



Hussein Ali al-Achi is listed as the lawyer of a company, with Lebanese and Belgian shareholders, called “BGH (Holding) SAL”. An examination of the company’s corporate data, shows that its CEO, Chairman of the board, co-founder and majority shareholder is Imad Abdul Reda Bakri, a Hezbollah financier that laundered money for Hezbollah through his various business dealings in Africa, Europe and South America. According to reports he was also part of Hezbollah’s involvement in selling “conflict diamonds.” It is important to note that BGH Holding Group’s accounting firm, which also handle the affairs of its other subsidiaries (Nascom SAL, BGH for Trading), is the Lebanese branch of the International accounting firm “Grant Thornton”;



ALF’s leading partner Ali Hussein al-Achi is also a prominent member of a network of companies linked to two interconnected networks of individuals and entities that were sanctioned for violating the oil embargo against Syria. The common link connecting both networks is al-Achi himself. The first network involved Fadi Nabih Nasser. The latter, is a Lebanese-Bulgarian businessman that was placed under OFAC sanctions for being part of a large-scale fuel procurement network that delivered crude oil, fuel and LNG to Syria. Nasser’s company, Nasco Polymers, along with another UAE-based company called Sonex Investment, facilitated shipments to Syrian ports. According to OFAC, Nasser, who controls 80% of Nasco’s shares, ‘has arranged delivery of thousands of tons of fuel to Syrian ports and has received millions of dollars for facilitating such shipments.’



Ali Hussein al-Achi is listed as Nasco Polymer’s attorney. But, al-Achi is not only Nasser’s attorney but also his business partner. Al-Achi is listed as the Attorney, founding partner and member of the board of directors in another one of Nasser’s companies called Nasser Petroleum Company Offshore, in another one of Nasser’s companies , African Polymers Chemicals company, he is listed as both shareholder and attorney.



In addition, al-Achi and Nasser are also connected to a company called Jawa Trading. Al-Achi serves as the company’s attorney while Nasser serves as its Chairman of the board of directors. Interestingly enough, Jawa Trading’s CEO and majority shareholder, Talal al-Haj Ahmed, is also the CEO and majority shareholder of a company called Abar Petroleum. The latter is a company that is affiliated with Rami Makhlouf (via his financial advisor Bassam al-Sabbagh) and more importantly it was also placed under sanctions for working with the Government of Syria ‘to evade sanctions and import crude oil and petroleum products to Syrian ports.’