The United States has blacklisted several Pakistani men for their ties to a blacklisted organization that laundered money for the Taliban, drug traffickers, and other criminal organizations.
Among them was Obaid Khanani, whose father, Altaf Khanani, was arrested by U.S. authorities in September 2015 and accused by the U.S. Treasury Department of laundering billions of dollars for the Taliban and other groups through his Al Zarooni Exchange and other operations.
The department said on October 11 that Obaid Khanani, 29, continued to lead his father's money-laundering operations after the arrest. Altaf Khanani is set to be tried on money-laundering charges in Miami this month.
Another man blacklisted, Hozaifa Khanani, 29, is Altaf Khanani's nephew and was involved in real estate investments on behalf of his uncle's organization, the Treasury Department said. Muhammad Javed Khanani, Altaf Khanani's brother, was "heavily involved in laundering criminal proceeds via money service businesses," the Treasury Department said.
The sanctions block any assets the men or companies might have in the United States and bars Americans from dealing with them.
The department also blacklisted several businesses based in Pakistan and Dubai for either being owned by the men or being linked to money laundering.