London:
An Indian national with addresses in the UK and Belgium has been arrested in London by Scotland Yard on a US extradition warrant, which emerged as part of a UK-US coordinated crackdown on terrorist financing.
Sundar Nagarajan, also known as Nagarajan Sundar Poongulam Kasiviswanathan Naga and Sundar Poongulam K. Nagarajan Nagarajan, was arrested by the National Extradition Unit of the Metropolitan Police on Tuesday from an address in Hayes in west London. After being denied bail, Nagarajan, 65, a native of Madurai, is set to appear next week at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, wanted by US authorities for fraud and money laundering. His arrest followed an action by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command to arrest a 50-year-old man in Wales on suspicion of financing terrorism.
“The ongoing investigation and arrest by the NTFIU (National Terrorist Financing Investigation Unit) relates to suspected terrorism financing and money laundering, believed to be related to wealthy art collector and diamond dealer Nazem Ahmad,” the Met Police said. .
Ahmad is suspected of being a funding source for Hezbollah, a banned terrorist organization in the UK and US. Sanctions against Ahmad were also announced this week by the UK government, in addition to the US government’s sanctions against Ahmad and several of his suspected associates, including Nagarajan.
“Terrorist groups rely on financial support and funding for their activities and the NTFIU is working closely with agencies in the UK and around the world to identify and take action on the people providing this funding,” said Detective Superintendent Gareth Rees. , of the Met’s counter-terrorism command.
“With our international partners, we will never give up on our mission to disrupt terrorist activity, both in the UK and abroad, to keep the public safe,” he said, adding that the arrests were the result of ongoing work and collaboration . with U.S. counterparts as a “significant milestone in what is a complex terrorism financing investigation”.
The Met Police said searches were carried out this week at two commercial addresses, both in east London, in connection with the investigation. The NTFIU is made up of specialist financial investigators who investigate suspicious financial activity that they believe is related to terrorism.
His action in the case coincided with the opening of a nine-point indictment by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York. It is alleged that Nazem Ahmad was involved in real estate development, the international trade of diamonds and the international buying and selling of works of art, operating these ventures through a complex web of business entities. Ahmad, a Lebanese resident and dual Belgian-Lebanese citizen, was sanctioned by the US for financing Hezbollah.
Nagarajan is named among his associates who used numerous corporate entities and individuals to disguise Ahmad’s control and interests in the companies and financial transactions and facilitate the acquisition of multiple multi-million dollar valuable works of art and diamond sorting services. diamonds belonging to US persons, US authorities said.
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