Shipping Cos & Individuals Indicted for Evading IRISL Sanctions
Manhattan District Attorney Vance has announced the indictment of eleven shipping companies and five individuals for their roles in a conspiracy to evade U.S. economic sanctions involving the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) by illegally accessing the U.S. financial system by falsifying the records of New York County banks.
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(The Office of Foreign Assets Control previously designated IRISL and certain affiliates working on its behalf for sanctions tied to bans on trade with countries that harbor foreign terrorists and proliferators of weapons of mass destruction. These designations prohibit transactions with and freeze the assets of IRISL and its affiliates, thereby isolating them from the U.S. financial and commercial systems. IRISL has also violated UN Security Council Resolutions by chartering vessels to transport IRISL cargo containers of ammunition and weaponry from Iran to countries linked to international terrorism.)
IRISL & Affiliates Sent/Received Illegal Payments Through Manhattan Banks
The indictment charges that between September 10, 2008 and January 10, 2011, the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to continue their access to U.S. financial institutions to conduct business in U.S. dollars. As part of the conspiracy, IRISL and its sanctioned affiliates sent or received illegal payments through Manhattan banks by using alias names and corporate alter egos in Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
By substituting their corporate co-defendants’ names, IRISL and its sanctioned affiliates deceived banks in New York into processing financial transactions that would have otherwise been blocked and seized. The result was the falsification of the records of banks located in Manhattan involving over $60 million in illegal payments.
11 Shipping Cos, 5 Individuals from Iran, Singapore, UAE, UK Indicted
The following 11 corporations and five individuals were indicted:
Iran -
- Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (aka Arya Shipping Company, aka IRI Shipping Lines, aka IRISL, aka IRISL Group)
- Hafiz Darya Shipping Lines (aka HDS Lines)
- Safiran Payam Darya Shipping Company (aka Sapid Shipping Co)
Singapore -
- Asia Marine Network Pte. Ltd. (aka Asian Perfect Marine Pte. Ltd., aka IRISL Asia Pte Ltd.)
- Sinose Maritime Pte. Ltd.
- Leading Maritime Pte. Ltd.
- Cheong Kheng Guan
- Alireza Ghezelayagh
United Arab Emirates -
- Oasis Freight Agencies (aka Oasis Freight Agencies LLC)
- Great Ocean Shipping Services LLC
- Pacific Shipping Company
- Moghaddami Fard
- Alireza Davoudzadeh
United Kingdom -
- Irinvestship Ltd.
- Fairway Shipping Limited
- Mohammad Hadi Pajand
(See ITT's Online Archives or 06/20/11 news, 11062042, for BP summary of OFAC's recent designation of shipping companies and individuals affiliated with IRISL, including some defendants in this case.
See ITT's Online Archives or 03/31/11 news, 11033174, for BP summary of an OFAC alert on IRISL's use of fraudulent documents to evade sanctions.)