AL-MUKALLA: The Iran-backed Houthi militias on Monday ordered local financial institutions to freeze the funds and assets of a major private bank in Yemen, a day after members of the group stormed a mansion in Sanaa owned by a local businessman.
Citing a judicial order, the Houthi-controlled central bank in Sanaa told local banks and exchange firms to take the action against Tadhamon International Islamic Bank (TIIB), a commercial bank owned by Hayel Saeed Anam Group, a Yemeni family-owned conglomerate.
The Houthis did not give a reason for the court order but Yemeni officials and economists said that the group wants to bring the private sector under its control in the territories it rules, and collect tax revenues to fund its military activities.
In November last year, TIIB was forced to close its operations across Yemen following a raid by the Houthis on its headquarter in Sanaa. Employees were forced to leave the office and the bank’s cameras and servers were confiscated.
The Houthi central bank accused the business of being involved in illegal activities such as currency speculation and smuggling money abroad. The bank strongly denied the claims and reopened several days later, after the Houthis left its offices.
Waled Al-Attas, an assistant professor of financial and banking sciences at Hadramout University, told Arab News that the latest action taken by the Houthis will have little effect on the bank’s operations and the rebels are simply trying to put pressure on it to comply.
“There is no direct influence on the bank,” he said. “They meant to compel the bank to implement what the movement wants.”
If the Houthis were serious about closing the bank they would have confiscated the bank’s assets at the central bank in Sanaa and closed branches by force, Al-Attas added.
“The bank carried out operations smoothly today,” he said.
HIGHLIGHTS
• The Houthi-controlled central bank in Sanaa told local banks and exchange firms to take the action against Tadhamon International Islamic Bank, owned by Hayel Saeed Anam Group.
• Yemeni officials and economists said that the group wants to bring the private sector under its control in the territories it rules, and collect tax revenues to fund its military activities.
• The Houthi central bank accused the business of being involved in illegal activities such as currency speculation and smuggling money abroad.
Quoting a source inside the Houthi central bank, local news site Yemen Future reported that the Houthis took the action against the bank after it refused to freeze an account of a convicted Yemeni individual.
On Sunday, local businessman Mohammed Yahiya Al-Haifi appealed to Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, leader of the Houthi movement, complaining that armed Houthis had stormed his mansion in Sanaa after accusing him of working with the Israelis and hosting a secret hiding place on behalf of the US embassy.
He accused Houthi leaders of seizing control of his mansion, freezing his bank accounts and pressuring him to relinquish his properties and businesses under the pretext that he had colluded with the US, Israel and the Arab coalition.
“They accused me of being an agent for America and Israel and working with the aggression against Yemen,” he said in his appeal.
Analysts said the targeting of Al-Haifi is part of a continuing Houthi crackdown on Yemeni businessmen and banks that refuse to cooperate with the movement’s efforts to fund its military activities across the country.
Since taking power in late 2014, the Houthis have confiscated the properties of hundreds of Yemeni politicians, journalists, human rights activists, and military and security officials in Sanaa.
