U.S. Sanctions Canadian Firms Over Iran and Drug Allegations

The United States has sanctioned eight Canadian currency-exchange businesses that it accuses of helping Iranian entities evade financial sanctions. Announced by the US Department of the Treasury on Friday, the measures are part of what the department calls “Operation Economic Outcast.” The Treasury says some of the businesses also laundered proceeds by converting Iranian rials and other currencies into digital assets, including cryptocurrency, and that some helped an alleged drug-trafficking ring leader. The firms are based in Ontario and British Columbia and include Million Exchange, Amin Exchange and Cryptoyal. The sanctions cut the businesses off from the US dollar-based financial system, freeze any assets they hold in the United States, and prohibit transactions with US persons or entities. Canada’s Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) said it worked with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on the measures, describing intelligence-sharing with foreign counterparts as part of its work against money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions evasion. In a separate action, FinCEN issued an order targeting MEXC Global, a Seychelles-incorporated money exchanger. The agency says the order prevents US financial institutions from processing fund transfers involving the company, which it alleges facilitated at least $16bn in illicit transactions linked to Iran, North Korea and Russia, as well as other sanctioned actors. The Treasury says its wider campaign is intended to cut off economic support for Iran’s government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Canada also designates as a terrorist organisation. Earlier in the week, the US sanctioned a network in India and Turkiye that it accused of helping Iran evade restrictions on oil exports and airlines. The Treasury identified the network’s alleged operators as Suniel Kumar Sharma and his wife, Jaspreet Preeti Shahid. The article also reports US claims that the campaign has contributed to a record-low Iranian rial and inflation of about 90 percent. The eight Canadian businesses named are Diverse Trade Inc (Million Exchange), 1380079 BC Limited (Amin Exchange), Top PC Technician Inc, NIA Nations Currency Ltd, 2397639 Ontario Ltd (Farah Exchange), CCC Inc, B Galaxy Inc (Cryptoyal), and Darvish Exchange.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against eight Canadian currency-exchange businesses, alleging they helped Iranian entities evade U.S. financial sanctions. The businesses are located in Ontario and British Columbia. According to Treasury, some exchanged Iranian rials and other currencies for digital assets, including cryptocurrency, and some changed names or addresses to avoid detection. The sanctions block any assets the companies may hold in the United States and prohibit transactions between them and U.S. individuals or entities, effectively cutting them off from the U.S. dollar-based financial system. Treasury said the measures are part of a broader effort to cut off financial support for Iran’s government and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Canada lists as a terrorist organization. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent described the companies as providing financial lifelines to the Iranian regime and said the goal is to isolate Tehran economically. The article also notes that the Trump administration expanded secondary sanctions on entities and countries doing business with Iran in August, as pressure on Tehran increased during the war. The Treasury statement further alleged that three of the sanctioned businesses helped Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic snowboarder accused by U.S. authorities of leading a drug-trafficking organization, conceal money. Officials said the businesses laundered bulk cash into digital assets and sent millions of dollars’ worth of digital funds abroad before Wedding was arrested in January. CBC said it had contacted Wedding’s lawyer for comment. The allegations against the businesses and Wedding are presented as claims by U.S. authorities.

The U.S. Treasury Department has imposed sanctions on eight Canadian businesses it says helped people evade sanctions on Iran’s government. The businesses are money services companies in British Columbia and Ontario, and the action was coordinated with Fintrac, Canada’s anti-money-laundering watchdog. Treasury named several firms, including Million Exchange, NIA Nations Currency, Farah Exchange and Darvish Exchange, as well as numbered companies. Treasury says some of the sanctioned entities also worked with Ryan Wedding, a former Canadian Olympic snowboarder whom U.S. authorities describe as an alleged drug kingpin. The department alleges that before his arrest in January, Wedding used some of the services to launder millions of dollars in drug proceeds by transferring digital assets. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Canada could not be a safe haven for people facilitating sanctions evasion for Iran and its proxies, and said Treasury would pursue the regime’s financial channels worldwide. The sanctions are part of broader U.S. efforts to disrupt transactions that evade sanctions as the country continues its war with Iran. Wedding was arrested in Mexico in January and transferred to the United States, where he faces drug trafficking, murder and attempted murder charges. He remains in federal custody awaiting trials scheduled for March and October of the following year. U.S. authorities allege that he ordered several murders, including that of a potential witness in a 2024 narcotics case. A Mexican judge was also arrested this week over allegations that he accepted a $2-million bribe to secure bail for Andrew Clark, a Canadian accused of serving as second-in-command in Wedding’s alleged trafficking ring. Wedding represented Canada in snowboarding at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He was convicted in the United States of conspiring to distribute cocaine and sentenced to prison in 2010. Authorities allege that after his release he resumed trafficking under the protection of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, moving cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and distributing it in the United States and Canada. Eight people were arrested in Canada the previous year as part of the U.S. investigation.