WASHINGTON: An Iranian financier accused of embezzling billions of dollars in public funds to benefit “regime elites” in Tehran was subject to economic sanctions on Friday by the US administration. According to a US Treasury statement, Iranian national Ali Ansari is a “key financier” for Mojtaba Khamenei, the supreme leader of the Islamic republic.
The Treasury claims that “Ansari has successfully institutionalized large-scale embezzlement within the Iranian regime, diverting publicly funded wealth into an extensive overseas portfolio of real estate and commercial holdings. The plan was used “to enrich himself, regime elites,” including Iran’s formidable Revolutionary Guards and those in the supreme leader’s office.
The Treasury, which oversees US economic sanctions, claims that Ansari embezzled the money of the Iranian people and used it to purchase real estate and commercial assets in Germany, Luxembourg, Spain, Britain, Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries.
It stated that a holding company founded in the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts and Nevis in 2011 was in charge of the worldwide network of shell corporations. Many of these financial interests are ultimately held for the financial benefit of Mojtaba Khamenei, his family, and other Iranian elites in the regime, even though they are held in Ansari’s name,” the Treasury stated.
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