Senior officers from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard have been accused of pilfering roughly $21 million in cryptocurrency whereas investigating a corruption case.
What Occurred: The alleged theft passed off throughout a probe into Cryptoland, a digital change that was shuttered following the arrest of its CEO, Sina Estavi, in Might 2021, reported Iran Worldwide on Sunday.
Blockchain data confirmed that six billion BRG tokens, created by Estavi, had been transferred from his cryptocurrency pockets a day after his arrest, the report mentioned. These tokens had been allegedly bought off by officers of the Revolutionary Guard, producing hundreds of thousands for themselves.
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Two key figures, Mehdi Hajipour and Mehdi Badi, senior interrogators within the Revolutionary Guard’s financial department, had been recognized by a court-appointed skilled. The skilled’s report confirmed that wallets managed by Hajipour bought over $21 million value of BRG tokens.
In March 2022, Hajipour was arrested by Revolutionary Guard counterintelligence brokers in a sting operation whereas accepting a $10,000 fee from Estavi, who believed he was shopping for again the stolen tokens from a 3rd social gathering.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards is a department of the Iranian armed forces tasked with defending the regime in opposition to inside and exterior threats. Its media arm, Sepah Information, didn’t instantly return Benzinga’s request for remark.
Why It Issues: Iran introduced a cryptocurrency regulatory framework final 12 months, aiming to nullify the crippling sanctions which have drained its economic system because of a strained relationship with the West.
The initiative aimed to “remove damaging impacts whereas leveraging optimistic results” of digital currencies and align Iran’s actions with the worldwide economic system.
In accordance with a February analysis report printed by blockchain evaluation agency Chainalysis, cryptocurrency outflows from Iranian exchanges, together with Bitcoin BTC/USD, elevated throughout moments of heightened geopolitical volatility, implying that folks had been using digital property as a hedge.
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