Arrest of Seven Iranians in Canada on Money Laundering Charges

Canadian authorities announced on Wednesday, February 13, the identification and arrest of members of an international money laundering network consisting of 17 individuals, seven of whom are Iranian. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the majority of the members of this large network were arrested in two operations in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Additionally, over 32 million dollars were discovered from this gang and seized by the police. According to some reports, several Iranian exchange offices were involved in this network. Among the arrested are Nader Gharamian, Tanya Gharamian, Sahar Shojaei, Mohammad Reza Sheikh Hosseini, and Shabnam Mansouri. The Canadian police also announced that with the dismantling of this network, they have obtained thousands of documents which they will publish. According to the Persian-language publication 'Shahrvand BC' in Canada, this network transferred drug sales proceeds 'through several exchange offices to bank accounts in Iran, Lebanon, Dubai, China, and the USA, and then sent them to distribution and production cartels in Mexico and Colombia.' The report states that the mentioned network also utilized a portion of the drug sales proceeds for investment purposes. 'Pikobino,' another Persian-language publication in Canada, also reported that three of the accused in this case, named Viktor Vargotski (56 years old), Frederic Reiman (77 years old), and Javier Jimenez Guerrero (35 years old), are still at large.