Money Laundering Network Dismantled in Golestan

Date: 24 November 2019 - 21:39

News ID: ۷۳۰۹۵

TEHRAN (Dispatches) – Iranian security forces have arrested members of a major criminal network involved in tax evasion and money laundering, a judiciary official in the northern province of Golestan said Sunday.
Provincial judiciary chief Hadi Hashemian said the network had been operating with a turnover of some 300 trillion rials over the past six years.
It had three ringleaders and six sidekicks, all of whom were arrested in the operation. According to Hashemian, 300 other members of the network were involved in fraudulent practices in the provinces of Golestan, Tehran, and Semnan.
More than 100 vehicles used by the network and 20 kilograms of gold bullions have been seized from the ring so far, the official stated.
He went on to say that investigation into the case will continue as efforts are underway to identify the defendants’ properties.
Back in January, Intelligence Ministry forces in the province of Qazvin arrested 12 members of a network on charges of disrupting the country’s currency market, smuggling currency through illegal trades, tax evasion and money laundering.
The network had been doing fraudulent activities in the provinces of Qazvin, Tehran and Mazandaran. Its ringleader was also detained before fleeing the country.
In another operation, Intelligence Ministry forces captured 13 individuals in the province of East Azarbaijan for disrupting the country’s currency market. A number of them were arrested before crossing the border with fake ID cards.
The network received subsidized foreign currency with business certificates of sham companies.
Also in December 2018, the Intelligence Ministry arrested members of another major network that had swindled the country’s banks out of millions of euros by infiltrating into the banking system.