The US has sentenced the CEO of a financial services company to 23 months in prison for allegedly helping Iranian nationals conduct financial transactions in violation of US sanctions. The 33-year-old Iranian millionaire CEO, Seyed Sajjad Shahidian, was found guilty last June of conspiracy to defraud and commit crimes against the US. Late last week, a district court in Minnesota sentenced Shahidian to prison.
The Iranian founder and CEO of the online platform Payment24.ir helped Iranian nationals circumvent US sanctions that prohibit financial transactions with businesses . Users of the platform paid a fee to bypass US sanctions so they could purchase software from US companies.
Payment24 had offices in Tehran, Shiraz, and Isfahan, Iran , and employed about 40 people. To Iranian customers seeking to make online purchases from U.S.-based businesses, the company sold a package that included a PayPal, a fraudulent “proof of identity and address,” a remote IP address from the United Arab Emirates, and a free Visa card.
Customers were informed by Payment24 about how to create accounts with a foreign identity and were instructed not to attempt to connect to a foreign site with an Iranian IP address.
To accomplish the transactions in violation of U.S. sanctions, Shahidian obtained payment processing accounts from U.S.-based companies, such as PayPal, using forged passports and other false residency documents to make it appear that his clients resided outside of Iran. Shahidian admitted to opening hundreds of PayPal accounts for his Iranian clients and illegally transferring millions of U.S. dollars into Iran’s economy.
Shahidian was arrested in London in November 2018, after being seen visiting several tourist spots, including the London Eye and Madame Tussauds wax museum, and was extradited to the US in May 2020.
Researchers from the UK's National Cybercrime Service said they believe Payment24 had previously been used by international cybercriminals targeting the UK .
