A civil forfeiture complaint has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking $47 million in proceeds from the sale of nearly one million barrels of Iranian petroleum. The complaint alleges that these funds are 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., along with Sue J. Bai from 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.
According to the complaint, a scheme between 2022 and 2024 facilitated the shipment, storage, and sale of Iranian oil under false pretenses for the benefit of IRGC and IRGC-QF. The facilitators allegedly disguised Iranian oil as Malaysian by manipulating tanker identification systems and presenting falsified documents to Croatian authorities. Transactions related to this oil were conducted through U.S. financial institutions unaware of their true origin.
The complaint further claims that profits from these sales support activities such as weapons proliferation, terrorism support, and human rights abuses by IRGC.
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 emphasized 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 to the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism Fund.
The investigation is being conducted by FBI Minneapolis Field Office and Homeland Security Investigations New York with legal proceedings managed by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen P. Seifert, Maeghan O. Mikorski, Brian Hudak, Trial Attorney Adam Small, former Paralegal Specialist Brian Rickers, and others from the Justice Department.
It is important to note that a civil forfeiture complaint is an allegation requiring government proof in court.