March 21, 2016
An indictment was unsealed in the Southern District of New York against Reza Zarrab, aka Riza Sarraf, 33, a resident of Turkey and dual citizen of Turkey and Iran; Camelia Jamshidy, aka Kamelia Jamshidy, 29, a citizen of Iran; and Hossein Najafzadeh, 65, a citizen of Iran, for engaging in hundreds of millions of dollars-worth of transactions on behalf of the government of Iran and other Iranian entities, which were barred by U.S. sanctions, laundering the proceeds of those illegal transactions and defrauding several financial institutions by concealing the true nature of these transactions.
Zarrab was arrested on March 19, 2016, and was presented in federal court in Miami earlier today. Jamshidy and Najafzadeh remain at large. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Richard M. Berman of the Southern District of New York.
“According to charges in the indictment, Zarrab, Jamshidy and Najafzadeh circumvented U.S. sanctions by conducting millions of dollars-worth of transactions on behalf of the Iranian government and Iranian businesses,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin. “These alleged violations, as well as the subsequent efforts taken to cover up these illicit actions, undermined U.S. laws designed to protect national security interests. The National Security Division will continue to vigorously pursue and bring to justice those who seek to violate U.S. sanctions.”