The U.S. Treasury said on September 17 that OFAC-designated Hormuz Safe Marine Services Authority has used the BitBank digital asset exchange since June to transfer payments it received to the Iranian government. OFAC designated BitBank, its developer and three associates, saying the exchange formed part of Iran’s digital asset-based sanctions-evasion infrastructure.
Treasury also alleged that Iranian financier Babak Zanjani used BitBank between June and July to move hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. OFAC said BitBank operated within a broader network used to launder funds and support sanctioned Iranian entities, while the exchange’s software developer, Pishtaz Simorgh Electronic Trade Company, was also designated.
The sanctions block property and interests in property of the designated parties that are in the United States or controlled by U.S. persons, with covered transactions generally prohibited unless authorized or exempt. Treasury said it will continue targeting digital asset channels used to evade sanctions, making enforcement against related exchanges, developers and facilitators the key next step.
Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury.
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