A civil forfeiture complaint has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that $47 million in proceeds from the sale of nearly one million barrels of Iranian petroleum is subject to forfeiture. The funds are claimed to be linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its Qods Force (IRGC-QF), both designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations.
The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr., Sue J. Bai, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, FBI Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston, Sr., and Homeland Security Investigations Acting Special Agent in Charge Michael Alfonso.
The complaint details a scheme between 2022 and 2024 involving deceptive practices to disguise Iranian oil as Malaysian. This included manipulating tanker identification systems and presenting falsified documents at a Croatian storage facility. Transactions were conducted through U.S. financial institutions under false pretenses, leading to the eventual sale of the petroleum product in 2024 and subsequent seizure of $47 million by U.S authorities.
Further allegations suggest that this petroleum product is property of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), which allegedly supports terrorism through material aid to IRGC and IRGC-QF.
U.S. Attorney Martin stated: “We will aggressively enforce U.S. sanctions against Iran... We remain committed to thwarting Iran’s devious attempts.” FBI Special Agent Winston added: “The FBI will not allow hostile regimes to evade U.S. sanctions or exploit our financial systems.”
Michael Alfonso commented on HSI's role: “Through the work of HSI’s Counterproliferation Investigations group... we are relentlessly utilizing every tool at our disposal.”
Funds successfully forfeited may be directed towards the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund.
Investigations are being carried out by FBI Minneapolis Field Office and Homeland Security Investigations New York, with litigation handled by Assistant U.S Attorneys Karen P. Seifert, Maeghan O Mikorski, Brian Hudak, and Trial Attorney Adam Small.
It should be noted that a civil forfeiture complaint is an allegation; it is up to the government to prove forfeitability in court proceedings.
