Louay Habbal pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money service business out of his Vienna residence on Pembsly Drive.
Habbal admitted last Thursday, July 7 in U.S. District Court that the government would have proved that he caused approximately $6,354,353 to be transferred from bank accounts in the United States to individuals and entities located in Europe, France, Lebanon and Syria without a money transmitting license from the Virginia State Corporation Commission.
Habbal advertised his business through a Web site called MenaExchange.com. He deposited funds from customers into bank accounts in Virginia and elsewhere, taking a portion of the money as a fee. Habbal then "transferred the remaining funds to other entities for future transfer to individuals overseas who had been designated by his U.S. customers," according to a press release from U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty.
Habbal received approximately $126,000 in commission payments from these transactions from December 2003 through March 2005, even though he was advised by attorneys in December 2003 that he was not in compliance with local laws, according to court documents.
Habbal, a naturalized United States citizen from Syria, was arrested at Dulles International Airport after arriving on a flight from Syria on March 15.
There was no link to terrorism in Habbal's case, but a danger of unlicensed money transmittal businesses is that terrorists can have millions of dollars "wired anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds with no questions asked," according to Allan Doody, of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Habbal's attorney Thomas Abbenante called his client a "loyal American" who has lived here legally more than 20 years. "There is absolutely no link to terrorism in this case," he said.
Habbal is scheduled to be sentenced in October. As part of the guilty plea, Habbal agreed to forfeit $114,237, according to McNulty.
The original indictment against Habbal in March claimed that he helped transfer more than $23 million to Syria and elsewhere around the world, according to McNulty.
"While there is no evidence of a link to terrorism in this case, we aggressively prosecute money transmitters to deprive terrorists and other criminals of a potential vehicle to facilitate their crimes," according to McNulty.
<1b>— Ken Moore