Beirut blast chemicals possibly linked to Syrian businessmen – report, company filings

Beirut blast chemicals possibly linked to Syrian businessmen – report, company filings

The U.S. Treasury accused Mudalal Khoury in 2015 of "an attempted procurement of ammonium nitrate in late 2013". It sanctioned his brother Imad a year later for engaging in business activities with Mudalal. Haswani was sanctioned in 2015 on charges of helping Assad's government to buy oil from Islamic State militants, which he has denied.In reviewing filings with Companies House, the UK's companies registry, Reuters found that Savaro and Hesco Engineering and Construction Company Ltd, a firm subject to U.S. sanctions for its links to Haswani, both moved their corporate registers -- official company records -- to the same London address on June 25, 2011.That address was also the registered office for IK Petroleum Industrial Company Ltd, in which Imad Khoury was a director, the filings show.Dozens of companies can share listed addresses and such links do not necessarily prove company owners are connected. But it is rare for firms to move their registers, particularly to the same address on the same day, according to a Reuters review of filings by hundreds of companies.Reuters located the agent which had helped register Hesco, but it did not respond to attempts to seek comment about Hesco's relationship with Savaro. Reuters could not