The U.S. Justice Department
released the below information:
A New York federal court
unsealed an indictment today charging four Iranian nationals with conspiracies
related to kidnapping, sanctions violations, bank and wire fraud, and money
laundering. A co-conspirator and California resident, also of Iran, faces additional
structuring charges.
According to court documents,
Alireza Shavaroghi Farahani, aka Vezerat Salimi and Haj Ali, 50; Mahmoud
Khazein, 42; Kiya Sadeghi, 35; and Omid Noori, 45, all of Iran, conspired to
kidnap a Brooklyn journalist, author and human rights activist for mobilizing
public opinion in Iran and around the world to bring about changes to the
regime’s laws and practices. Niloufar Bahadorifar, aka Nellie Bahadorifar, 46,
originally of Iran and currently residing in California, is alleged to have
provided financial services that supported the plot.
“Every person in the United
States must be free from harassment, threats and physical harm by foreign
powers,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Mark J. Lesko for the Justice
Department’s National Security Division. “Through this indictment, we bring to
light one such pernicious plot to harm an American citizen who was exercising
their First Amendment rights, and we commit ourselves to bring the defendants
to justice.”
“As alleged, four of the defendants
monitored and planned to kidnap a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin who has been
critical of the regime’s autocracy, and to forcibly take their intended victim
to Iran, where the victim’s fate would have been uncertain at best,” said U.S.
Attorney Audrey Strauss for the Southern District of New York. “Among this
country’s most cherished freedoms is the right to speak one’s mind without fear
of government reprisal. A U.S. citizen living in the United States must be able
to advocate for human rights without being targeted by foreign intelligence
operatives. Thanks to the FBI’s exposure of their alleged scheme, these
defendants have failed to silence criticism by forcible abduction.”
“As alleged in this
indictment, the government of Iran directed a number of state actors to plot to
kidnap a U.S.-based journalist and American citizen, and to conduct
surveillance on U.S. soil - all with the intention to lure our citizen back to
Iran as retaliation for their freedom of expression,” said Assistant Director Alan
E. Kohler Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “We will use all the
tools at our disposal to aggressively investigate foreign activities by
operatives who conspire to kidnap a U.S. citizen just because the government of
Iran didn’t approve of the victim’s criticism of the regime.”
According to the indictment,
Farahani is an Iranian intelligence official who resides in Iran. Khazein,
Sadeghi and Noori are Iranian intelligence assets who also reside in Iran and
work under Farahani. Since at least June 2020, Farahani and his intelligence
network have plotted to kidnap a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin (Victim-1) from
within the United States in furtherance of the government of Iran’s efforts to
silence Victim-1’s criticisms of the regime. Victim-1 is an author and
journalist who has publicized the government of Iran’s human rights abuses.
Prior to the kidnapping plot,
the government of Iran attempted to lure Victim-1 to a third country in order
to capture Victim-1 for rendition to Iran. In approximately 2018, Iranian
government officials attempted to induce relatives of Victim-1, who reside in
Iran, to invite the victim to travel to a third country for the apparent
purpose of having Victim-1 arrested or detained and transported to Iran for
imprisonment. Victim-1’s relatives did not accept the offer. An electronic
device used by Farahani contains, among other things, a photo of Victim-1
alongside photos of two other individuals, both of whom were lured from
third countries and captured by Iranian intelligence, with one later executed
and the other imprisoned in Iran, and a caption in Farsi that reads: “gradually
the gathering gets bigger... are you coming, or should we come for you?”
On multiple occasions in 2020
and 2021, as part of the plot to kidnap Victim-1, Farahani and his network
procured the services of private investigators to surveil, photograph and video
record Victim-1 and Victim-1’s household members in Brooklyn. Farahani’s
network procured days’ worth of surveillance at Victim-1’s home and the
surrounding area, videos and photographs of the victim’s family and associates,
surveillance of the victim’s residence, and the installation of and access to a
live high-definition video feed of Victim-1’s home. The network repeatedly
insisted on high-quality photographs and video recordings of Victim-1 and
Victim-1’s household members; a large volume of content; pictures of visitors
and objects around the house; and depictions of Victim-1’s body language. The
network procured the surveillance by misrepresenting their identities and the
purpose of the surveillance to the investigators, and laundered money into the
United States from Iran to pay for the surveillance. Sadeghi acted as the
network’s primary point of contact with private investigators while Noori
facilitated payment to the investigators in furtherance of the plot.
As part of the kidnapping
plot, the Farahani-led intelligence network also researched methods of
transporting Victim-1 out of the United States for rendition to Iran. Sadeghi,
for example, researched a service offering military-style speedboats for
self-operated maritime evacuation out of New York City, and maritime travel
from New York to Venezuela, a country whose de facto government has friendly
relations with Iran. Khazein researched travel routes from Victim-1’s residence
to a waterfront neighborhood in Brooklyn; the location of Victim-1’s
residence relative to Venezuela; and the location of Victim-1’s residence
relative to Tehran.
The network that Farahani
directs has also targeted victims in other countries, including victims in
Canada, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, and has worked to
procure similar surveillance of those victims.
As alleged, Bahadorifar
provided financial and other services from the United States to Iranian
residents and entities, including to Khazein, since approximately 2015.
Bahadorifar facilitated access to the U.S. financial system and institutions
through the use of card accounts and offered to manage business interests in
the United States on Khazein’s behalf. Among other things, Bahadorifar caused a
payment to be made to a private investigator for surveillance of Victim-1 on
Khazein’s behalf. While Bahadorifar is not charged with participating in the
kidnapping conspiracy, she is alleged to have provided financial services that
supported the plot and is charged with conspiring to violate sanctions against
Iran, commit bank and wire fraud, and commit money laundering. Bahadorifar is
also charged with structuring cash deposits totaling more than approximately
$445,000.
Farahani, Khazein, Sadeghi
and Noori are each charged with: (1) conspiring to kidnap, which carries a
maximum sentence of life in prison; (2) conspiring to violate the International
Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and sanctions against the government of
Iran, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; (3) conspiring to
commit bank and wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in
prison; and (4) conspiring to launder money, which carries a maximum sentence
of 20 years in prison. Bahadorifar is charged with counts two, three and four,
and is further charged with structuring, which carries a maximum sentence of 10
years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence
after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The FBI’s New York Field
Office, Counterintelligence-Cyber Division and Iran Threat Task Force are
investigating the case.
Trial Attorney Nathan Swinton
of the Justice Department’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section and
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Lockard, Jacob H. Gutwillig and Matthew
J.C. Hellman of the Southern District of New York are prosecuting the case.
An indictment is merely an
allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond
a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
