Alleged Hezbollah financier evades sanctions with art and diamonds.

Lebanese art collector Nazem Ahmad and eight others have been charged with violating US sanctions by trading in paintings and diamonds, and conspiring to defraud American and foreign governments and money laundering. Ahmad is accused of financing the militant group Hezbollah using a complex web of businesses to disguise millions of dollars in transactions involving art and diamonds. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions against 52 individuals and entities linked to Ahmad in nine countries. The British authorities also froze Ahmad’s assets on Tuesday.