$21 Million Crypto Heist: Iran’s Top Officers Accused in Shocking Theft

The situation began when Sina Estavi, Cryptoland’s CEO, was arrested in 2021 on charges of harming Iran’s financial system. This led to the shutdown of the exchange and left over 51,000 users without access to their funds.

Later, agents from the IRGC’s intelligence and economic crimes units were given control of the seized assets. But instead of protecting the funds, several of them allegedly moved tokens to wallets under their control and sold them.

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Iran International, a Persian-language satellite television channel, named Mehdi Hajipour and Mehdi Badi as central figures in the scheme. Hajipour was found to have moved millions in BRG tokens, the platform’s native coin. Reports say his personal wealth jumped from around $40,000 to over $14 million within four months.

The situation became more serious when Hajipour was caught taking a $10,000 payment from Estavi. Estavi thought he was buying back some of the stolen tokens through a third party, but the buyer was Hajipour using a fake identity.

Two more IRGC members, Majid Jahan Parto and Majid Tabatabaei, were linked to the scheme. Four others are accused of creating fake documents to cover up the transactions. Badi, one of the main suspects, is also related to a former high-ranking IRGC official.

Meanwhile, the Department of Justice (DOJ) seized $201,400 in cryptocurrency tied to Hamas on March 27. How? Read the full story.