Two Houston men have admitted to their roles in a prohibited operation that funneled tens of thousands of dollars to Iran, part of which was meant for Ayatollah Ali Husseini Khamenei, the country's Supreme Leader. Muzzamil Zaidi, 40, and Asim Mujtaba Naqvi, 40, both pleaded guilty to conspiracy and breaches of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
The justice department said Wednesday that Zaidi, and Naqvi both from Texas, orchestrated an elaborate plot to move U.S. currency to parties in Iran. As reported by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, they enlisted friends, family, and associates to sneak funds out of the United States in sub-$10,000 increments to dodge detection. "For over 40 years, Iran has financed terror organizations that export fear, violence, and death across the globe," said FBI Houston Special Agent in Charge Douglas Williams. "Zaidi and Naqvi financially supported Iran’s dispersion of terror through a system of subterfuge and deception."
These guilty pleas mark a significant victory for U.S. agencies committed to impeding financial support to entities marked by the U.S. as proliferators of terror. "The FBI remains steadfast in preventing U.S. currency from reaching the most prolific state sponsor of terrorism in the world," Assistant Director in Charge Sundberg said, "Today's hearing should be a warning to others that the FBI is committed to finding those who willfully circumvent U.S. sanctions and bring them to justice."
Zaidi is scheduled for sentencing on August 13, 2024, and Naqvi on October 1, of the same year for their illegal money transfer activities. Their arrests in August 2020 stem from a scheme that took place between December 2018 and December 2019, involving the collection of khums – a form of religious tax – and charitable donations ostensibly for Yemen war victims. These operations undermine American sanctions that have been in effect since 1995 and intensified in June 2019 when the President laid additional sanctions directly on the Supreme Leader of Iran.
The FBI's team in Washington, alongside their Counterterrorism colleagues in Houston, led the investigation. Their collaborating offices in Dallas, Chicago, and Detroit provided essential support to disrupt the nefarious financial supply chain. The case is prosecuted by a team of attorneys from the DOJ's National Security Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office's National Security Section for the District of Columbia, a testament to the seriousness with which the U.S. governs national security threats.
