Canadian officials have charged a Toronto-area used car dealer with laundering money for the Iran-backed terrorist group Hezbollah.

Fahed Sowane, a 57-year-old Lebanese national who came to Canada on a work permit in 2016, denied the charges.

But in heavily redacted court records released to Global News, officials called the Mississauga, Ont., resident a “danger to the security of Canada.”

A veteran car dealer, Sowane exported Audis, BMWs and other vehicles to the Hezbollah-controlled port of Beirut, according to highly classified documents.

Immigration officials concluded that the shipments constituted “money laundering for profit”. Hezbollah,” according to the files.

As a result, officials declared Sowane inadmissible to Canada, meaning he is not allowed to remain in the country.

Federal court confirmed the decision last week.

A former Canadian intelligence analyst who specialized in terrorist financing said exporting high-end cars is “a very well-known financing technique for Hezbollah.”

To move cash across borders, Hezbollah uses it to buy vehicles, which are sent to Lebanon and resold, said Jessica Davis, president of Insight Threat Intelligence.

“This means money is being moved from Canada to Lebanon, but without ever touching the banking system,” said a former Canadian security intelligence official.

“And this is important because banks are actually pretty well equipped to detect money laundering and terrorist financing. And so this is a way for criminals to get around all these safeguards that we’ve put into the financial system.”

The Canada Border Services Agency did not respond to questions about the matter. Sowane’s lawyer said his client was disappointed with the court’s ruling.

In emails to Global News, Dan Miller said immigration officials in the case “can offer no evidence of any troubling behavior.”

He disputed the government’s claim that Sowane exported the vehicles to Beirut at a lower price than he paid for them – a flag for money laundering.

Sowane’s “frustration is compounded because the Canadian government allows hundreds of members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to reside freely in Canada, a group he strongly opposes,” Miller added.

“Similarly, every weekend pro-Hamas supporters gather freely at the Bathurst St intersection. and Sheppard Ave. in Toronto to intimidate the local Jewish community, and the government is doing nothing to stop it.”

“Instead, the government is going after small individuals on the faintest suspicions that they are pretending to be doing something, while at the same time avoiding taking any action that might offend its voter base.”

Hezbollah is a “radical Shiite group” dedicated to turning Lebanon into an Islamist republic like Iran, according to Public Safety Canada.

Armed, trained and funded by Tehran, it is part of an Iranian-led “axis of resistance” that also includes bases based in Gaza. Hamas and the Yemeni Houthis.

Although financed by Iran, Hezbollah also relies on drug trafficking and other crimes for profit, and launders the profits, often through the global car trade.

Iran encouraged its Axis groups to develop alternative sources of financing, said Davis, the author Illegal Money: Financing Terrorism in the 21st Century.

These include taxation, extortion, investments and criminal networks, she said.

“These are the things that give terrorist groups longevity and financial salvation, even when their terrorist sponsors end them.”

In 2022 terrorist financing warningwarned the Canadian Center for the Analysis of Financial Transactions and Reports on Hezbollah’s Activities.

The bulletin states that, after ISIS, Hezbollah is the international terrorist group most frequently observed moving money across borders.

“A large portion of funds suspected of financing Hezbollah were sent to Lebanon,” FINTRAC wrote in an operational alert for financial institutions.

“Funds suspected of funding Hezbollah were often sent or received by individuals/entities related to or listed in the auto industry.”

A car dealer for over three decades, Sowane started Black Swan Trading Inc. in Ontario in 2015, according to documents filed in Federal Court.

He also worked at M&J Canada Inc., where his duties included exporting used cars and parts to foreign markets, according to records.

The Mississauga used vehicle dealership, which described Sowane in the letter as a full-time employee, did not respond to requests for comment.

Three years after Sowane arrived in Canada on a work permit, the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development nominated him to become a landed immigrant.

The province nominates prospective immigrants who “have the skills and experience needed by Ontario’s economy,” according to the government website.

The ministry responsible for the program did not respond to the questions.

While federal immigration officials were processing Sowane’s application for permanent residence, Canadian Security Intelligence Service intervened.

After CSIS sent a security clearance summary to the CBSA in February 2024, Sowane was rejected “because he poses a risk to the security of Canada.”

Although immigration officials asked Sowane for export information on his cars, they said he did not provide it, prompting officials to claim he “withheld information.”

Sowane claimed he did not share the same religious beliefs as Hezbollah, but the CBSA said “ideology may not be a factor when it comes to personal economic profit.”

His lawyer told immigration officials that his client “has never had any ties to Hezbollah and his business activities have never had anything to do with Hezbollah.”

“Sunnis in Lebanon hate Hezbollah and Mr. Sowane is no different. He blames Hezbollah for turning Lebanon into a failed state and says he wants nothing to do with Hezbollah,” the lawyer wrote in an April 2024 email.

Sowane appealed the CBSA’s decision but lost.

ua decision made on January 21The Federal Court said the immigration department made its decision in a “procedurally fair and reasonable manner”.

Davis called it “a rare case of Hezbollah interfering with law enforcement in Canada,” which used an immigration screening system as opposed to criminal courts.

“I think it’s very important that Canadians understand that these kinds of things happen in this country even when we don’t see law enforcement action,” she said.

“There are other ways that the Canadian government is trying to disrupt financial networks. Immigration is a really, really important part of that.”

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