The Bush administration on Wednesday accused two blacklisted Pakistan-based groups, operating under “new aliases”, of trying to evade financial sanctions.The Treasury Department identified numerous alleged aliases for Al Rashid Trust and Al Akhtar Trust International, two groups that the United States has previously accused of supporting Al Qaeda.
Al Rashid was designated in September 2001 and Al Akhtar was put on the blacklist in October 2003. That action meant that any assets found in the US were frozen and Americans were barred from making donations and doing business with the groups.
The department alleged that Al Rashid was now operating under other names, including Al Amin Welfare Trust and Al Ameen Trust, while Al Akhtar was using other names, including Pakistan Relief Foundation and Azmat Pakistan Trust. “We are very concerned about designated entities reconstituting themselves under new names in attempts to circumvent sanctions and continue funnelling money to terrorist activities,” said Treasury Office Foreign Assets Control Director Adam Szubin, which oversees the US financial sanctions programmes.
“We will continue to put the public on notice when we find that a designated entity is trying to operate under the cloak of a new alias,” he said.