U.S. Court Sentences Iranian CEO to Two Years in Jail
MINNEAPOLIS (Dispatches) — The founder and CEO of an Iranian financial services firm accused of allegedly conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions against Iran has been sentenced to nearly two years in federal prison in the United States.
The Associated Press said Seyed Sajjad Shahidian, 33, pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to defraud and commit offenses against the United States. Shahidian, a citizen of Iran, was arrested in London in November 2018 but wasn’t extradited to the U.S. until this past May.
Prosecutors had accused Shahidian of lying to U.S. suppliers, illegally transferring funds from Iran, and using fraudulent passports and other documents, all to circumvent U.S. sanctions and enable others to follow suit.
Court documents show that Shahidian was founder and former CEO of Payment24, an internet-based financial services company with about 40 employees and offices in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan, Iran.
Prosecutors alleged that the primary business of Payment24 was helping Iranian citizens conduct prohibited financial transactions with businesses based in the United States, including the unlawful purchase and exportation of computer software, software licenses and servers from U.S. companies.
The AP said Shahidian admitted to opening hundreds of PayPal accounts on behalf of his Payment24 customers who resided in Iran and to bringing millions of U.S. dollars into the economy of Iran.
The U.S. unleashed its maximum pressure campaign against Iran in 2018, when it left the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Following its withdrawal, Washington targeted the Iranian nation with the "toughest ever” economic sanctions, which Tehran has denounced as economic terrorism.
The sanctions have also blocked legal ways through which Iran can have financial dealings with its trade partners across the world as they have been threatened by the U.S. to face consequences over the breach of the restrictive measures.
The U.S. administration has so far defied international calls to halt its unilateral sanctions on Tehran and has over the past year slapped more restrictive measures on the Islamic Republic at a time that the whole world is grappling to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
The Associated Press said Seyed Sajjad Shahidian, 33, pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to defraud and commit offenses against the United States. Shahidian, a citizen of Iran, was arrested in London in November 2018 but wasn’t extradited to the U.S. until this past May.
Prosecutors had accused Shahidian of lying to U.S. suppliers, illegally transferring funds from Iran, and using fraudulent passports and other documents, all to circumvent U.S. sanctions and enable others to follow suit.
Court documents show that Shahidian was founder and former CEO of Payment24, an internet-based financial services company with about 40 employees and offices in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan, Iran.
Prosecutors alleged that the primary business of Payment24 was helping Iranian citizens conduct prohibited financial transactions with businesses based in the United States, including the unlawful purchase and exportation of computer software, software licenses and servers from U.S. companies.
The AP said Shahidian admitted to opening hundreds of PayPal accounts on behalf of his Payment24 customers who resided in Iran and to bringing millions of U.S. dollars into the economy of Iran.
The U.S. unleashed its maximum pressure campaign against Iran in 2018, when it left the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Following its withdrawal, Washington targeted the Iranian nation with the "toughest ever” economic sanctions, which Tehran has denounced as economic terrorism.
The sanctions have also blocked legal ways through which Iran can have financial dealings with its trade partners across the world as they have been threatened by the U.S. to face consequences over the breach of the restrictive measures.
The U.S. administration has so far defied international calls to halt its unilateral sanctions on Tehran and has over the past year slapped more restrictive measures on the Islamic Republic at a time that the whole world is grappling to contain the coronavirus pandemic.