Who would have guessed? Who cares about Saks 5th Avenue in New York City, I'm going to visit Tehran on the Hudson!
Federal authorities moved in Wednesday to seize control of a New York City office building partially owned by a company with ties to the Iranian government.
The government alleges that Assa Corp., the building's owner, is a shell company for Bank Melli, which is accused of facilitating the movement of nuclear materials for the Iranian government. Officials contend that Bank Melli was heavily involved in the day-to-day operations of Assa Corp. and its management of the Fifth Avenue building, which generated rental income that was sent back to Iran.
The sole employee of Assa, Mohammad Hassan Dhghani Tafti, engaged in a number of curious moves to apparently hide his employment status. His access to Assa accounts drew added attention from federal authorities. Between 2000 and 2007 more than $17 million was deposited into one of the seized accounts.
"This scheme to use a front company set up by Bank Melli -- a known proliferator -- to funnel money from the United States to Iran is yet another example of Iran's duplicity," said Stuart Levey, Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence.
Bank Melli is known to handle funds for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and its Qods Forces. Those groups are believed to help fund activities tied to the Taliban, Hizballah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Robert Spencer
This is just another story buried in the headlines. Another story that shows how America and other nations around the world are asleep at the wheel when it comes to the War on Terrorism. We have no clue.
1 comment:
Ryan - keep trying as hard as you can to educate any and all who read your blog. We have NO idea how deadly serious all this is, and what really is going on! Be safe!!
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