Rhino: Agencies – The European Union imposed sanctions through which it froze the assets of a number of companies and banned visas for those accused of helping to finance “Hamas”.

The EU said in a statement that the list included six individuals, including Sudanese businessman Abdelbaset Hamza, a senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard official, a money transfer exchange, and companies based in Spain and Sudan.

The sanctions targeted three fronts used by Abdelbaset Hamza to transfer money to Hamas, including a Spanish real estate company known as Al-Zawaya Group, and two other companies based in Sudan, according to the statement.

A joint investigation by CNN, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and Israeli investigative platform Shomrim, published in late December last year, revealed a wide range of business interests that Hamza was able to maintain in Europe, despite being placed under US sanctions following the 7 October attacks.

The CNN investigation also revealed that the US delayed in imposing sanctions on Hamza, who was arrested in 2019 in Sudan for his handling of Hamas finances, among other charges.

Hamza is believed to have a network of global assets previously estimated by Sudanese anti-corruption officials to be worth more than $2bn. Documents provided to CNN by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) from the “Cyprus Secrets” leak – a collection of more than 3.6 million documents analyzed by the ICIJ and 68 media partners, including Shomrim – revealed Hamza’s stakes in a Cyprus company and a Spanish property company.

Documents provided to CNN by the ICIJ from the “Cyprus Secrets” leak show that Hamza is listed as owning a stake in Matz Holding, a Cypriot company established in February 2005. Since its establishment, MATZ Holding has held a lucrative concession to exploit two gold mines in Egypt.

Hamza sold a large portion of his shares in Matz Holding the day before his ally, former Sudanese dictator Omar al-Bashir, was ousted in 2019, but he still owns a 10 per cent stake in the company. Hamza also owns a Spanish property company, which was hit by US sanctions that targeted “assets in Hamas’ investment portfolio” about a week after sanctions were imposed on Hamza himself.

Hamza owns his stake in Matz Holding through Zawaya Group for Development and Investment, a Sudan-based company sanctioned by the US Treasury Department in October for its links to Hamas’ investment portfolio.

The Treasury Department accused him of having “long-standing ties to terrorist financing” and said he had historical ties to companies in Sudan that were linked to bin Laden, who lived in Sudan during the 1990s.

The UK also imposed sanctions on Hamza in November. last year.

Following Sudan’s military coup in October 2021, Hamza was one of several al-Bashir allies released from prison, and the confiscation of his assets was reversed.