Hamburg bank suspected of financing pro-Iranian terrorists, including Hezbollah and Yemeni Houthis
Kyiv • UNN
A small German bank may have been the center of an underground financial network that Iran has relied on for years to finance terrorist groups in the Middle East, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Yemeni Houthis, according to two Western intelligence agencies.
A small bank in Hamburg could have been the center of Iran's underground financial network, which financed terrorist groups in the Middle East, including Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemeni Houthis. Politico writes about this with reference to representatives of two Western intelligence services, UNN reports.
Details
The newspaper writes that Western intelligence has provided German financial authorities with evidence that the Islamic Republic is using Varengold Bank AG in Hamburg to finance terrorists.
Founded as a small asset management company in Hamburg in 1995, Varengold obtained a German banking license in 2013 and became a full-fledged bank. Last year, the German financial regulator Bafin announced the launch of an investigation into Varengold, citing suspicions of money laundering.
According to Western intelligence, Iran's military complex relies on European banks to launder proceeds from the illegal sale of oil and other goods in order to obtain hard currency, which is easier to move through the global financial system undetected.
Intelligence reports indicate that the Iranian front companies that used Varengold are linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which trains and funds Iranian terrorists in the Middle East. The Iranian central government allocates them oil, which they then sell, mainly to China, through an underground financial network to circumvent sanctions. The advantage for the buyer is that the price of sanctioned oil is much lower than the market price.
According to officials, Iran relies on front companies to launder proceeds from the sale of oil and oil products, primarily to China and russia. These transactions are often disguised as humanitarian aid, which is not subject to sanctions. Bank transfers and invoices reviewed by Politico detail some of the transactions between Varengold and known Iranian front companies that are part of the covert network. The commission for the services offered by Varengold is about 1 percent, and the bank's international payments division has handled transactions worth billions of euros.
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Bafin has not yet completed its investigation, and so far no one at the bank has been charged with any wrongdoing. A spokesperson for Bafin did not say when the investigation would be completed or whether the case had been referred to the German prosecutor's office.
Although the investigation is still ongoing, the bank has already almost completely stopped commercial operations. At the same time, Varengold denies any wrongdoing and insists that its relations with Iran were limited to sending humanitarian aid. However, if the authorities' suspicions are confirmed, the bank will become a vivid example of the relative ease with which Tehran circumvents Western sanctions.
