CSIS alleges Iran used Toronto company to wire millions to Canada despite sanctions
A Toronto currency exchange business helped Iran secretly wire millions of dollars into Canada in violation of sanctions, according to a classified intelligence report that calls the financial transfers a threat to national security.
A Canadian Security Intelligence Service report obtained by Global News accuses Alireza Onghaei, the investor immigrant behind the company, of “assisting the government of Iran in the clandestine wiring of monies into Canada.”
The money was routed through Dubai in order to “circumvent sanctions,” CSIS wrote in its Dec. 20, 2019, report on Onghaei, the owner of ONG Currency Exchange Inc., on Toronto’s Yonge Street.
The total amount allegedly funnelled into Canada from Iran was not known, but CSIS wrote that “we assess it to be in the millions.” One transfer alone was for $600,000, according to CSIS.
CSIS did not specify when the alleged transfers took place or what the money was used for, but wrote that its investigation was related to “foreign-influenced activities … that are detrimental to the interests of Canada and are clandestine or deceptive.”
The report shows how Canadian intelligence officials suspect the Iranian regime has dodged international sanctions by passing money through the United Arab Emirates and using small currency exchange companies to move it to Canada.