A Toronto businessman wanted in the United States on felony charges for allegedly helping Iran’s regime evade sanctions was also on the radar of Canadian law enforcement for more than 15 years.
Salim Henareh, who now markets himself online as the owner of a private mortgage company in Toronto, has been under suspicion for money laundering since at least 2007, according to new court documents.
The documents show Canada and its partner nations in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance believed Henareh’s businesses were central to a multi-billion dollar international money laundering network.
A 2015 RCMP report lists Henareh’s money service business as a potential intermediary in a money laundering ring believed to be run by Altaf Khanani, a Pakistani businessman accused by the U.S. State Department of laundering billions of dollars for organized crime and terrorist outfits.
Despite the RCMP amassing what an analyst described in an email as “resounding” amounts of circumstantial evidence, Henareh hasn’t been charged with any financial crimes in Canada.
Garry Clement, a former RCMP superintendent who managed the force’s financial crime program, reviewed the documents and said the case should serve as a wake-up call for the RCMP.
“Sadly, I think it shows an inability to take on transnational organized crime,” Clement said.
It’s utterly depressing to think Canada’s gov’t doesn’t seem to give a shit about rich people breaking the law cause it’s too complicated to arrest and charge them. 😕
Right? It’s like an ambulance getting a call and saying “at this hour, across town, with this traffic?” and then going back to their crossword
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A Toronto businessman wanted in the United States on felony charges for allegedly helping Iran’s regime evade sanctions was also on the radar of Canadian law enforcement for more than 15 years.
The documents show Canada and its partner nations in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance believed Henareh’s businesses were central to a multi-billion dollar international money laundering network.
The court documents tabled in Ortis’s trial include an RCMP report from 2015 on “Project Oryx,” a probe of an alleged money laundering ring in the Greater Toronto Area.
The court documents show that in 2015, Ortis asked RCMP colleagues to share details of authorities’ efforts to target Henareh’s money service business Rosco Trading, formerly known as Persepolis.
Court documents tied to that case claim Iran uses front and shell companies to exploit financial systems around the world and transfer money to fund terrorist groups, human rights abuses and ballistic missile development.
CBC News has reported that Henareh appears to still be running businesses in the Toronto area, including Lenders for Growth, which claims on its website that it has “virtually limitless access to funding.”
The original article contains 1,050 words, the summary contains 176 words. Saved 83%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
