Financial Fraud: Bahram Karimi Was Charged With Conspiring To Commit Bank Fraud, Bank Fraud, And Making False Statements

<h2>Iranian National Charged with Bank Fraud and Lying to Federal Agents in Connection with a Scheme to Use the U&period;S&period; Financial System to Send More Than &dollar;115 Million to Iranian Individuals and Entities<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The Department of Justice announced that Bahram Karimi was charged with conspiring to commit bank fraud&comma; bank fraud&comma; and making false statements in connection with his involvement in a joint project initiated by the Governments of Iran and Venezuela in which more than &dollar;115 million was illegally funneled through the U&period;S&period; financial system for the benefit of various Iranian individuals and entities&period; The case is assigned to U&period;S&period; District Judge Alison J&period; Nathan&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mh-content-ad"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js&quest;client&equals;ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; crossorigin&equals;"anonymous"><&sol;script>&NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle"&NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;"&NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article"&NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid"&NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9162800720558968"&NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1081854981"><&sol;ins>&NewLine;<script>&NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi;&NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Karimi allegedly conspired in an infrastructure project initiated by the Governments of Iran and Venezuela&comma;” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C&period; Demers&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;He then lied to banks about Iranian involvement and took advantage of the U&period;S&period; <a class&equals;"wpil&lowbar;keyword&lowbar;link" href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;fraudswatch&period;com&sol;tag&sol;financial-fraud&sol;amp&sol;" title&equals;"financial" data-wpil-keyword-link&equals;"linked" data-wpil-monitor-id&equals;"949">financial<&sol;a> system to benefit Iranian parties&period; The Department of Justice will continue to prosecute those who misuse our financial system in violation of U&period;S&period; sanctions&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;As alleged&comma; Bahram Karimi knowingly and willfully facilitated the circumventing of sanctions against Iran&comma; and then lied about it to FBI agents&comma;” said U&period;S&period; Attorney Geoffrey S&period; Berman for the Southern District of New York&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Karimi allegedly enabled the concealed transfer through U&period;S&period; banks of more than &dollar;100 million from a Venezuelan state-owned company to an Iranian construction firm&comma; and when questioned&comma; told the agents he didn’t know that was prohibited by the sanctions&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;At the end of the day&comma; these charges reflect the use of our financial system to generate U&period;S&period; dollars for Iranians and Iranian entities&period; That’s why our government has robust sanctions in place against Iran and Iranian entities who seek to use the U&period;S&period; banking system for their own benefit&comma;” said Assistant Director-in-Charge William F&period; Sweeney&comma; Jr of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation &lpar;FBI&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As alleged in the Superseding Indictment and statements made in court filings and proceedings&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In August 2004&comma; the Governments of Iran and Venezuela entered into a Cooperation Framework Agreement&comma; whereby they agreed to cooperate in certain areas of common interest&period; The following year&comma; both governments supplemented the Cooperation Framework Agreement by entering into a Memorandum of Understanding regarding an infrastructure project in Venezuela &lpar;the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Project”&rpar;&comma; which was to involve the construction of thousands of housing units in Venezuela&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Project was led by Stratus Group&comma; an Iranian conglomerate with international business operations in the construction&comma; banking&comma; and oil industries&period; In December 2006&comma; Stratus Group incorporated a company in Tehran&comma; which was then known as the Iranian International Housing Corporation &lpar;IIHC&rpar;&period; IIHC was responsible for construction for the Project&period; Thereafter&comma; IIHC entered into a contract with a subsidiary of a Venezuelan state-owned energy company &lpar;the VE Company&rpar;&comma; which called for IIHC to build approximately 7&comma;000 housing units in Venezuela in exchange for approximately &dollar;475&comma;734&comma;000&period; Stratus Group created the Venezuela Project Executive Committee to oversee the execution of the Project&period; Karimi was a member of the committee and was responsible for managing the Project in Venezuela&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In connection with his role on the Project&comma; Karimi worked with others to defraud U&period;S&period; banks by concealing the role of Iranian parties in U&period;S&period; dollar payments sent through the U&period;S&period; banking system&period; Specifically&comma; between April 2011 and November 2013&comma; the VE Company made approximately 15 payments to IIHC through two front companies&comma; which were created to conceal the Iranian nexus to the payments&comma; in violation of U&period;S&period; economic sanctions&period; These 15 payments totaled approximately &dollar;115 million&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In January 2020&comma; Karimi was interviewed by&comma; among other people&comma; two FBI agents&period; During that interview&comma; Karimi falsely stated that&comma; during the course of the Project&comma; he believed that international sanctions against Iran did not apply to Iranian companies or persons&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Karimi&comma; 53&comma; of Canada&comma; is charged with &lpar;1&rpar; conspiring to commit bank fraud&comma; which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison&semi; &lpar;2&rpar; bank fraud&comma; which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison&semi; and &lpar;3&rpar; making false statements&comma; which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison&period; The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only&comma; as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Mr&period; Demers and Mr&period; Berman praised the outstanding investigative efforts of the New York County District Attorney’s Office and the FBI&period; Mr&period; Berman also thanked the New York County District Attorney’s Office for their ongoing assistance in this investigation&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office’s Terrorism and International Narcotics Unit&period; Assistant U&period;S&period; Attorneys Jane Kim&comma; Michael Krouse&comma; and Stephanie Lake&comma; and Special Assistant U&period;S&period; Attorney Garrett Lynch&comma; Deputy Chief of the Major Economic Crimes Bureau at the New York County District Attorney’s Office&comma; are in charge of the prosecution&comma; with assistance from Trial Attorney Scott Claffee of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The charges contained in the Superseding Indictment are merely allegations&comma; and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Counterintelligence and Export ControlFinancial FraudNational Security