Iranian Revolutionary Guards suspected of money laundering in Korea

Iranian Revolutionary Guards are suspected of managing a secret fund in Korea and Malaysia to avoid economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe, the Kyoto News Agency reported.

Quoting informed diplomatic sources on Saturday, the Japanese news agency said Iranian energy company "Petrosina Arya" was found to have 1.3 billion U.S. dollars in won-currency deposits at a large bank in Korea as of the third quarter of last year.

Sources said Petrosina Arya is believed to a disguised firm for Iran’s largest builder, Hatam al-Anbiya, which is owned by IRG.

The sources said Petrosina Arya also has deposits in Malaysia and former Common Wealth of Independent Countries. The sources added Iran seems to be shifting the fund to Asia and other countries to dodge strict monitoring and sanctions by U.S. and European financial authorities.

The U.S. Treasury Department is reportedly investigating this case, judging that it could be examples of money laundering by Iranian Revolutionary Guards.

On the Kyoto news report, a source at the Korean financial authorities said, “It is impossible to check. We understand that the bank has never reported to the Financial Intelligence Unit that it suspects the fund as illegal foreign currency deposit.” He added, “As I know, there is no related request from the U.S. Treasury Department yet either. We will examine whether a large amount of foreign currency has been illegally smuggled into Korea.”