Iran’s central bank said on Tuesday it had blocked bank the accounts of over 250 people suspected of money laundering a sum amounting to $1.6 billion, as the country attempts to consolidate its financial system amid harsh sanctions.
Central bank spokesperson Mohammad Shirijian said the individuals, using around 6,000 bank accounts, recorded a combined turnover of about 2,100 trillion rials ($1.6 billion).
Shirijian said about 130 trillion rials, or around $100 million, of the total was linked to the bank accounts of a 24-year-old whom he accused of involvement in “disrupting the foreign exchange market.”
He added that the cases of 13 people suspected of "disrupting the banking system and the foreign exchange market" had been referred to the judiciary.
Separately, Revolutionary Guards-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, citing the central bank’s public relations director Mostafa Ghamari Vafa, reported that authorities had identified and blocked the accounts of three individuals, aged 24, 28 and 33, whose transactions totaled about 262 trillion rials ($201 million).
Tasnim said authorities had identified the trail of currency traders linked to the accounts and that the case remains under close surveillance.
Iran’s central bank issued a new directive in late September requiring banks to set annual transaction limits for customers based on their level of financial activity.
Under the directive, the annual transaction cap is set at 200 billion rials ($154,000) for salaried individuals, 50 billion rials ($38,400) for individuals without employment and five billion rials ($3,840) for inactive legal entities.
Shirijian's remarks come as Iran’s currency hit a fresh low on Monday of 1.312 million rials to the US dollar on the open market according to currency-tracking websites, reflecting deep economic woes in the country.
Tehran has sought to boost financial regulation and gain entry into anti-money laundering bodies in a bid to gain greater access to the global banking system as renewed international sanctions have dented its already creaky economy.
But in October the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) rejected Iran's accession, saying Tehran would remain on its list of high-risk countries for failing to fully accept the body's rules on terror financing.
