Americans, Pakistani charged with moving US currency to Iran
Washington. A complaint has been unsealed, charging two US citizens with Federal crimes related to Iran.
Muzzamil Zaidi, 36, a US citizen who resides in Qom, Iran, was charged with acting in the United States as an agent of the government of Iran without first notifying the Attorney General.
Zaidi, Asim Naqvi, 36, a US citizen who lives in Houston, Texas, and Ali Chawla, 36, a Pakistani national who lives in Qom, Iran, were all charged with violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
The complaint alleges that both charges stem from the defendants’ campaign to transport US currency from the United States to Iran on behalf of the Supreme Leader of Iran in 2018 and 2019.
Both Zaidi and Naqvi were arrested in Houston yesterday, August 18, 2020.
“Disrupting Iran’s ability to raise US dollars is key to combating its ability to sponsor international terrorism and destabilise the Middle East, including through its military presence in Yemen,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers.
“Zaidi, Naqvi, and Chawla allegedly raised money in the United States on behalf of Iran’s Supreme Leader, and illegally channelled these dollars to the government of Iran.
The US Department of Justice and its National Security Division are committed to holding accountable individuals who operate covert networks within the United States in order to provide support and funds to hostile foreign governments like Iran in violation of US law.”
“This case is significant on many levels,” said Michael R. Sherwin, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.
“To begin, as alleged in the criminal complaint, the defendants have considerable operational links to the IRGC, which has conducted multiple terrorist operations throughout the world over the past several years.
“The life-blood of these terrorist operations is cash – and the defendants played a key role in facilitating that critical component.”
“Today’s charges demonstrate our commitment to preventing agents of hostile foreign governments from having access and freedom to operate within the borders of the United States,” said James A. Dawson, acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.
“In addition to being charged with acting as an illegal agent of Iran, Zaidi allegedly operated with his co-conspirators at the behest of the Iranian government — a known sponsor of terrorism — to overtly solicit US money to further Iranian causes, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
“This is why IEEPA was established: to prevent hostile foreign governments from leveraging the US financial system in furtherance of their global destabilising endeavours.”
“The arrests today are the direct result of the undeterred efforts of the FBI Houston Counterterrorism investigative team,” said FBI Houston Field Office Special Agent in Charge, Perry K. Turner. (Agencies)
