Iran Officials Allegedly Steal $21 Million in Crypto While 'Investigating' Corruption
Top interrogators from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are accused of orchestrating a crypto theft of over $21 million while probing the defunct exchange Cryptoland. These officers allegedly transferred tokens from the exchange's assets into wallets they controlled and sold them for personal gain. Key figures in this scheme, including Mehdi Hajipour and Mehdi Badi, manipulated transactions under the guise of a corruption investigation. Evidence reveals Hajipour’s wallets processed substantial amounts of the exchange's native token. A startling aspect of this case involves Hajipour accepting a bribe of $10,000 from Cryptoland’s CEO, Sina Estavi, whom he tricked into buying back stolen tokens. Additional IRGC members participated in the scheme by forging documents. This scandal highlights wider issues of corruption within Iranian institutions, particularly as Estavi himself faced charges related to the collapse of Cryptoland and is now imprisoned, impacting over 51,000 investors.
Source 🔗