A worldwide Telecommunication structure serves Hezbollah for financing and intel collection

Abstract:

Teltac Worldwide is a telecommunication company that is directly connected to Hezbollah and Iran. The key person connecting Teltac in Lebanon, Hezbollah and the IRGC to the global telecommunications market is Ali Ibrahim Charara (SDGT). It is important to note that while Teltac’s activity is mainly concentrated in Africa, it has business dealings in other regions of the world. As this report has shown, Teltac Worldwide can aid Hezbollah and the IRGC in two main ways:

1. Financial – through its financial activity, the company’s profits can increase Hezbollah’s revenue and aid it not only in its day-to-day activities but also aid its military activities.

2. Intelligence and operational – From an operational point of view, if Hezbollah and Iran have indeed gained control over such as a telecommunications network in Africa (particularly in Sierra Leon), it means they can operate there with ease without hinderance. More importantly, if indeed the IRGC and Hezbollah maintains a hold over gathering asset for their various operations in Africa and perhaps even worldwide.

And if so, this Teltac spider network put the free world in a very problematic position allowing Hezbollah and perhaps IRGC to carry out their terror agenda.

Teltac Worldwide, the Hezbollah and the Iran connections:

Teltac Worldwide Inc. SAL Offshore is a global telecommunications company based in Lebanon. The company is active in various locations in the Middle East and Europe, but its main base of operations is in Africa. More importantly, the company is controlled and affiliated with entities and individuals linked to Hezbollah and Iran.

The company’s CEO, Ali Ibrahim Charara, who is its second largest shareholder, is himself connected to companies and individuals that are linked to Hezbollah’s BAC. One such company where Ali Ibrahim Charara is one of its founders, shareholders, and a board member, is called EBD Teltac SAL Offshore which is directly connected to entities and individuals that were designated for their activity on behalf of Hezbollah.

One of the sanctioned individuals, Ali Youssef Charara, is considered to be one of Hezbollah’s top financiers who also appears in the US most wanted list. we believe that Ali Ibrahim Charara and Ali Youssef Charara are also connected by family ties. More importantly, the two are partners in various business ventures. One of those ventures is a designated company called Spectrum Investment Group Holding SAL that is both a shareholder and board member of EBD Teltac. Spectrum is a telecommunications company that provides integrated telecommunications services in the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. According to OFAC’s designation, Ali Youssef Charara used Spectrum to invest Hezbollah’s finances in different commercial projects in order to increase the terrorist organization’s income. Ali Ibrahim Charara is one of the founders of Spectrum Investment.

The Iranian connection:

EBD Teltac also has a connection to the IRGC’s financial and military activity. The company opened its Iranian branch circa 2005. According to corporate records in Iran, Ali Youssef Charara is listed as the general manager of two Iranian companies called “Per Sep” and “Ara Tec Pardiz”. One of Per Sep’s Iranian directors is Mohsen Sajjadi Nia who also serves as Ara Tec Pardiz’s representative in other companies. Sajjadi Nia, also known as Mahmoud Seif, is an IRGC operative considered to be a major factor in the IRGC’s rise to financial prominence in the 2000s. In 2017, he was designated by OFAC ‘for having assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support and services for the IRGC-QF.

Thus, as is clearly shown, Ali Ibrahim Charara, is directly involved with individuals who are not only in the service of Hezbollah but are also linked directly to the IRGC.

As mentioned before, Ali Ibrahim Charara is a shareholder and the Chairman of Teltac Worldwide Inc. SAL Offshore. According to the company’s website, the company has a Point of Presence (POP) serving its main international telecommunications network. This POP in the UK is registered under the name “Teltac Worldwide”. This POP in the UK is important since it allows Teltac access to European telecommunications network and further expand their worldwide presence. In addition to its UK office, according to the company’s LinkedIn page, they also have an office in the USA – it is possible that this also a POP.

Another interesting fact we found in the registrations, is that the accounting firm that handles Teltac Worldwide SAL Offshore is none other than KPMG-Lebanon.

This begs the question whether KPMG-Lebanon itself is complicit in Teltac’s Hezbollah connection.

Teltac Worldwide Sal’s major shareholder is Hisham Hussein Makki. The latter is a wealthy businessman from Sierra Leonese of Lebanese origin, often referred to in Africa as the Lebanese diamond kingpin, who made his fortune through diamond trafficking from Sierra Leone in the last decades. During the years of the civilian war, He was involved in “conflict diamond” trafficking in Sierra Leone including contact with the RUF resistance. In 2006, Makki using Teltac Worldwide and in partnership with Sierra Leone’s president, controls the country’s local telecommunication company called Sierratel. He did so after the Parliament passed a bill that turned Sierratel, into a monopoly that acts as Sierra Leon’s telecommunications gateway, effectively placing under its control the entire country’s incoming and outgoing telecommunication traffic. It is safe to assume that Sierratel is probably Teltac World wide’s main project in Africa.

Among Teltac’s other clients in Africa, the following can be found: Unitel – Angola, Vivacel – South Sudan, Intercel – Guinea, Djibouti Telecom – Djibouti, Azur – Gabon and Congo Brazzaville.

It would seem that Makki played a pivotal role in introducing Teltac Worldwide into the African telecommunications market using his vast wealth and connections in the country. If this is true, it means that Makki facilitated in establishing a telecommunication infrastructure in Africa that both Hezbollah and perhaps even Iran have complete access to. This is even more critical when it comes to Sierra Leone. Since 2007, Teltac Worldwide is the exclusive operator of the international gateway for Sierra Leone on behalf of Sierratel (Sierra Leone Telecommunications Company). This would mean that given Sierratel’s monopoly status, Hezbollah and Iran may have unlimited access to the telecommunications network of an entire country which can allow them to operate with ease in the country and use it as a base of operations for their activity in Africa including that of their special intelligence units (for example, Hezbollah’s external security organization -unit 910 or the IRGC-QF).

However, Teltac’s commercial activity is not only limited to interacting with local companies in Africa. As the screengrab below taken from the company’s website, shows, Teltac lists various international companies as its business partners. Among these companies are major telecommunication companies such as AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone, Orange, IDT, and TATA.

Another interesting company that is worth mentioning is the South African based international telecommunications company, MTN. The latter and Teltac seem to have a relationship that extends also to MTN’s subsidiaries and joint ventures such as Belgacom and Investcom (see picture below). More importantly, MTN has an Iranian joint venture called Irancell which is controlled by Bonyad Mostazafan.