Iranian businessman charged with conspiracy to violate US sanctions

An Iranian businessman was handed a two-year jail sentence for violating US sanctions against Iran on Thursday, October 15. According to reports, Seyed Sajjad Shahidian pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to committing fraud and offenses against the US. Shahidian, an Iranian citizen, was jailed in London in November 2018 but wasn't extradited to the US until May this year. 

READ: US Imposes Fresh Sanctions On 18 Iranian Banks To Intensify 'maximum Pressure' Campaign

Illegal funds transfer

In addition to that, the prosecutors are reported to have said that Shahidian lied to US suppliers and illegally transferred funds to the US from Iran. He was also charged for using fake passports and other documents to travel to the US amid sanctions. 

US Attorney Erica McDonald to the press: "In Iran, based on his illegal business, Mr. Shahidian had been a high-profile executive and a millionaire. He is now a convicted felon who has lost everything". 

As per reports, the court documents show that Shahidian was the founder and former CEO of Payment24, internet-based financial services company having 40 employees and offices in Tehran, Shiraz, and Isfahan Moreover, the US prosecutors alleged that the company was helping Iranian citizens conduct prohibited financial transactions with businesses based in the United States. It included the unlawful purchase and exportation of computer software, software licenses and servers from US companies, as per reports. In addition, Shahidian also confessed to opening hundreds of PayPal accounts on behalf of his Payment24 customers who live in Iran to siphon millions of US dollars to Iran.

READ: Iran Awaits End Of Arms Embargo Next Week, Rouhani Aide Terms It “great Success”

Meanwhile, the United States has targeted Iran’s financial sector by announcing fresh sanctions on 18 major Iranian banks as Washington intensifies its “maximum pressure” campaign ahead of November elections. The US State Department said that the new tranche of sanctions was aimed at choking off the funds used to carry out “its support for terrorist activities and nuclear extortion.”

Announcing the new sweeping sanctions, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei of ignoring the request of the health ministry to increase the spending amid public health crisis, and instead funding the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and regime’s Basij forces “that terrorise the Iranian people every single day.”

READ: Iran Witnesses New Record High In COVID-19 Fatalities As Cases Continue To Soar

READ: Iran-backed Militias Offer Truce For US Troop Withdrawal

Image/Inputs: AP