"[Louay Ibrahim Hussein] is charged in connection with his leadership role in a wide-ranging scheme to distribute large quantities of high-grade counterfeit US currency believed to be produced with support from sponsors in Lebanon and Iran for sale and use in markets across the globe, including in the United States and Europe," the statement noted.
Hussein, 42, was arrested in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2014, and was extradited to the United States on July 21.
According to prosecutors, Hussein sold an undercover US agent nearly $150,000 in high-quality counterfeit bills and nearly $150,000 in counterfeit Euro notes over the course of several months in 2012.
Prosecutors further allege that Hussein told undercover agents on numerous occasions that he has access to as much as $800 million in high-quality counterfeit US currency for sale to clients based in Iran and elsewhere. Moreover, Hussein also offered to procure weapons, narcotics, and counterfeit currency and to have them shipped though US ports.
A US-based co-conspirator, Mouafak Al Sabsadi, was also arrested in relation to the scheme in 2014. Al Sabsadi pled guilty to conspiracy to distribute counterfeit currency and was sentenced principally to time served and a three year term of supervised release on May 31, 2016.
