Who are Hamas’s moneychangers in Lebanon?

Hamas’s finance department is responsible for the organization’s entire budget and operates from several central locations, including Turkey and Lebanon. In light of the restrictions on the transfer of funds through the supervised banking system, Hamas, like the radical Shiite axis led by Iran, makes extensive use of money exchangers that enable the rapid transfer of funds without traces and without the supervision of official financial institutions. Hamas uses, among other things, the Lebanese money exchange company Chouman to transfer money from around the world and from Iran to the Gaza Strip.

The exchange company belonging to Lebanese businessman Nabil Chouman & Sons – Nabil Chouman & CO Money Changing Company (Shuman for Currency Exchange SARL – registration number: 55789) was established in 1980 in Beirut.[1] The company was officially incorporated into the Lebanese Registrar of Companies in 1989.

For several years, the company has served as a conduit for transferring funds to the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas.[2] We are not currently aware that sanctions of any kind have been imposed on the company and its officials.

Nabil Chouman (Shuman), together with his son Khaled and another moneychanger named Rida Ali Khamis (see details on the three below), has worked in recent years with a member of Hamas’ military-terrorist wing – Hamed Ahmed al-Khudari, who, until his assassination in 2019 was one of Hamas’ most prominent moneychangers. Tens of millions of dollars went from Nabil Chouman’s exchange company to Hamas.[3] [4]According to various reports, al-Khudari smuggled about $30 million into Gaza.

The Chouman family is known in Lebanon as one of the main Shi’ite families in the country’s economic sector, in general, and particularly in the world of banking and money exchange.[5] [6] It should be noted that Afif Chouman (“Abu al-Fadel”), a distant relative of theirs, is the head of the charity “Help Each Other” (وتعاونوا), which belongs to Hezbollah.[7] [8]

*Verification of company data from the Lebanese Registrar of Companies* [9]

The address of the main branch of the company is located in Beirut, Hamra Street, building “Strand,” ground floor, property number 351.

Alongside the main branch, the company operates additional branches:

The branch in the Saifi Village neighborhood in Beirut (managed by Nasser Khaled Chouman, Nabil’s cousin or brother,[10] and by another relative named Hassan Chouman)[11]
Nabatieh branch (possibly managed by Yihya Chouman, another family member) [12]
Tyre branch (managed by Talal Chouman, also a family member)[13] [14]