A Turkish company that was sanctioned by the US Treasury last year over a covert Hamas financing network is continuing its operations, posting millions of Turkish lira in profit at the end of 2022.
Real estate investment firm Trend Gayrimenkul Yatırım Ortaklığı A.Ş (Trend), run by Hamas operatives, announced it had earned 57.9 million Turkish lira in profit in 2022, according to a declaration to the Public Disclosure Forum (KAP) of the Borsa İstanbul (İstanbul Stock Exchange) on February 13, 2023.
Trend, previously known as Anda Gayrimenkul Geliştirme ve İnşaat, was designated under a sanctions regime on May 24, 2022 by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The US officials said the company was part of Hamas’s global financial assets, worth more than $500 million, and used to conceal and launder funds on behalf of the militant Palestinian organization.
The Islamist government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which has been an ardent supporter of Hamas, has not taken any action against the firm or its officials since the US designation. The company, which trades publicly on the stock exchange, continued to generate income in construction and real estate investment schemes in Istanbul.
Source: Nordic monitor