Source:
United States
Attorney's Office
Southern District of New York
Lev L. Dassin, the Acting United States Attorney
for the Southern District of New York, announced today that Farshid Jahedi, the
president of the Alavi Foundation,
was indicted for allegedly destroying documents subpoenaed by a grand jury
investigating the Alavi Foundation's relationship with Bank Melli Iran and the
ownership of a Manhattan office building. On December 19, 2008, Jahedi was
arrested in New York City on a criminal complaint in this case.
According to the indictment filed yesterday, the
criminal complaint, and other documents filed in Manhattan federal court:
On December 17, 2008, in connection with a grand
jury investigation concerning the Alavi Foundation and its financial
relationship with Bank Melli Iran (Bank Melli) and two offshore entities
controlled by Bank Melli-Assa Company Limited and Assa Corporation-Jahedi was
served, as president of Alavi, with a grand jury subpoena. The subpoena was
directed to the Alavi Foundation and commanded the production to the federal
grand jury of financial documents concerning the Alavi Foundation, Assa
Corporation, Assa Company Limited, and the building located at 650 Fifth Avenue
Company. Jahedi was explicitly cautioned by law enforcement agents not to
destroy any documents called for by the subpoena. The next day, Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI) personnel observed Jahedi discarding torn documents into
a public trash can. Further investigation revealed that these documents
concerned Assa Limited, Assa Corporation, and 650 Fifth Avenue Company.
As previously made public in the complaint filed
in this matter, the Alavi Foundation is a successor organization of the Pahlavi
Foundation, a non-profit organization originally operated by the Shah of Iran to
pursue Iran's charitable interests in the United States. In the 1970s, the
Pahlavi Foundation constructed an office tower (the "Building"), located at 650
Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. A substantial loan from Bank Melli Iran (Bank Melli),
a state-owned bank in Iran, financed the construction of the Building.
In 1989, the Alavi Foundation, in partnership
with Bank Melli, formed 650 Fifth Avenue Company. To disguise Bank Melli's
ownership interest, the parties agreed to transfer 35% of 650 Fifth Avenue
Company to Assa Corporation (an entity wholly owned by Assa Company Limited).
Assa Company Limited is a Jersey, Channel Islands, entity, which was and has
since been wholly owned by Iranian citizens who represent the interests of Bank
Melli. In conjunction with the transfer of the 35% interest in 650 Fifth Avenue
to Assa Corporation, Bank Melli cancelled its loan on the Building. Today, the
Alavi Foundation owns 60% of 650 Fifth Avenue Company, and Bank Melli, through
Assa Corporation and Assa Company Limited, owns 40% of 650 Fifth Avenue Company.
In 1995, in order to implement a series of
executive orders issued pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers
Act (IEEPA), the Department of Treasury promulgated the Iranian Transaction
Regulations (ITRs) - which prohibit any person from exporting or causing to be
exported from the United States, to Iran or the Government of Iran, any goods,
technology, or services without having first obtained a valid export license
from the United States Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control
(OFAC).
Following issuance of the ITRs, but without an
OFAC license to do so, Assa Corporation and Assa Company Limited continued to
provide services to Bank Melli by maintaining Bank Melli's interest in 650 Fifth
Avenue Company and transferring income from 650 Fifth Avenue Company to Bank
Melli.
In 1999, OFAC identified Bank Melli, and all of
its offices worldwide, as entities owned or controlled by the Government of
Iran.
On December 17, 2008, the United States filed a
forfeiture Complaint which seeks to forfeit all right, title and interest of
Assa Corporation, Assa Company Limited, and Bank Melli in 650 Fifth Avenue
Company. The United States also seeks to forfeit funds that were seized,
pursuant to federal seizure warrants, from Assa Corporation's bank accounts. The
forfeiture Complaint alleges that the funds in the bank accounts are forfeitable
as proceeds of IEEPA violations, and that Assa Corporation's interest in 650
Fifth Avenue Company is forfeitable as property involved in money laundering and
a conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Jahedi is charged in the indictment with two
felony offenses. Count one charges Jahedi with destroying a document, with the
intent to impair that document's availability for use in an official proceeding,
which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Count two charges Jahedi
with obstruction of justice, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in
prison.
Jahedi is scheduled to be arraigned on the
indictment by United States District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin on May 8, 2009,
at 4:00 p.m.
Mr. Dassin praised the investigative work of the
New York Joint Terrorism Task Force-which principally consists of agents of the
FBI and detectives of the New York City Police Department-and the New York Field
Office of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division.
Assistant United States Attorneys Harry Chernoff,
David Leibowitz, and John Cronan are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges and allegations contained in the
Indictment and Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed
innocent unless and until proven guilty.
... Payvand News - 05/07/09 ... --
