February 16, 2018 — JMD
Seizure of LeT assets and funds: but to what effect?
Pakistan has begun seizing funds and assets associated with LeT founder Hafiz Saeed. Pakistan amended a decades-old anti-terrorism law in order to facilitate the seizure, allowing the country to take action on individuals and entities listed by the United Nations Security Council. Interestingly, it appears that the government is re-naming the seized organizations instead of shutting them down. This begs the question of the utility of the seizures: will any substantial leadership changes be enforced for these organizations? Will LeT still derive benefit from these charitable / social welfare entities? And most importantly, will the LeT be able to use these organizations to raise and move money, or obscure its origin or destination?