US Treasury sanctions eight Canadian money services businesses over Iran and drug trafficking links
The US Treasury Department sanctioned eight Canada-based money services businesses on Friday, accusing them of enabling the Iranian government and moving assets into and out of Iran.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said the action is part of Operation Economic Outcast and was imposed under Executive Order 13902, which targets the Iranian digital asset sector.
The firms allegedly exchange Iranian rials and other currencies for digital assets, and many are accused of dealing with sanctioned Iranian exchanges and addresses linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
"Canada cannot be a safe haven for illicit financial facilitators that provide sanctions evasion services to the Iranian regime and its proxies," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "Treasury will pursue and disrupt the Iranian regime’s financial channels anywhere in the world."
The designated entities are Diverse Trade Inc, doing business as Million Exchange; 1380079 BC Limited, doing business as Amin Exchange; Top PC Technician Inc; NIA Nations Currency Ltd; 2397639 Ontario Ltd, doing business as Farah Exchange; CCC Inc; B Galaxy Inc, doing business as Cryptoyal; and Darvish Exchange.
The Treasury Department said Million Exchange addresses allegedly sent the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of dollars to IRGC-linked or terrorism-related addresses. Addresses tied to Farah Exchange allegedly sent millions of dollars in digital assets to addresses associated with Ryan Wedding.
It said Wedding, a sanctioned Canadian drug trafficker apprehended in January, used money exchange businesses in the Vancouver and Toronto areas to launder billions of dollars in drug proceeds. Amin Exchange allegedly laundered drug proceeds for him in Vancouver, converting cash into digital assets he directed abroad.
The action follows OFAC designations of Iranian exchanges Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex on June 2, and Aban Tether Exchange and SHPS Shelbit on Aug. 7. It was coordinated with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Canada’s financial intelligence unit FINTRAC and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
