Afghan Biographies

Manaf, Abdul Satar Abdul Haji


Name Manaf, Abdul Satar Abdul Haji
Ethnic backgr. Pashtun
Date of birth 1964
Function/Grade Money exchange owner
History and Biodata

3. Biodata:

Haji Abdul Satar Abdul Manaf aka Haji Abdul Sattar Barakzai son of Hajji ‘Abd-al-Manaf was born 1964 in Mirmandaw Village, Nahr-e Saraj District, Helmand Province, AfAfghanistan. He was extradited from Estonia this week (20190206) after his arrest in Tallinn, Estonia, on October 9, 2018, for the alleged plot to funnel the drug related money back to the Taliban and the Haqqani network, according to a criminal complaint. In August 2018, Manaf allegedly unwittingly arranged for a sample sale of the drug with a DEA agent and four informants, the court papers say.
 

Court documents filed in the Southern District of New York revealed Manaf had two associates in Melbourne who sent and received drug money, and had a direct line to the Taliban and its affiliate, the Haqqani Network. Manaf was put on a blacklist by the US Treasury in 2012 for storing or moving money for the Taliban through a money remitting business called the Haji Khairullah Haji Sattar Money Exchange. He was unable to move money in or out of the US, costing him $US20 million ($28 million) in lost business.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury designated two exchange houses, the Haji Khairullah Haji Sattar Money Exchange (HKHS) and the Roshan Money Exchange (RMX), which principally operate in Afghanistan and Pakistan, pursuant to the U.S. government’s terrorism sanctions authority, Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, for storing or moving money for the Taliban. Treasury is also designating the co-owners of HKHS, Haji Abdul Sattar Barakzai and Haji Khairullah Barakzai, pursuant to E.O. 13224 for donating money and providing financial services to the Taliban.  Both HKHS and RMX operate as hawalas and have been used by the Taliban to facilitate money transfers in support of the Taliban’s narcotics trade and terrorist operations.  The United Nations also added Haji Abdul Sattar Barakzai, Haji Khairullah Barakzai, HKHS and RMX to its 1988 List of individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with the Taliban in constituting a threat to the peace, stability and security of Afghanistan.

 

Last Modified 2019-02-07
Established 2019-02-07