Based on recently leaked data from the Abolfathi server, Wikiran exposes additional global banks that have provided financial services to Iranian front companies used by Sepehr Energy Jahan (SEJ), thereby enabling for international sanctions evasion and facilitating money laundering, often unknowingly.

Our previous investigation into SEJ revealed the primary "enabler" financial institutions within the shadow banking sector linked to Sepehr Energy Jahan.

This latest leak does not contain large volumes of bank account details, but does allow us to expand the list of financial institutions that, apparently unknowingly, have participate in the money laundering activities of SEJ and its clients.

This article examines the identified bank accounts and their respective host banks:

In our earlier article on SEJ Enabler Banks, we had already identified accounts held at Banque Misr, Bank of Qingdao and PingAn Bank. The new leak now reveals additional accounts hosted at Zhejiang Mintai Commercial Bank, China Citic Bank, China Construction Bank and the Indonesian Bank Central Asia.

These banks are complicit, either knowingly or unknowingly, in the financial operation of SEJ and its clients. It is imperative that all of these institutions strengthen their due diligence procedures, enhance their KYC requirements and improve transactions monitoring.

Moreover, these banks receive correspondent banking services from major global American and European banks. The following table outlines the correspondent relationships of the newly exposed banks in connection to SEJ:

When a correspondent bank provides services to a financial institution that knowingly or unknowingly hosts accounts for sanctioned entities, it effectively facilitates sanctions evasion. This exposes the correspondent banks to significant legal and regulatory consequences, including:

1. OFAC penalties: In the United States, correspondent banks may face severe penalties for violating Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regulations, which prohibit transactions with sanctioned entities.

2. Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) regulatory breaches: By providing services to banks that host sanctioned entities, correspondent banks may violate AML/CFT regulations, which require financial institutions to detect and report suspicious activity.

3. Regulatory fines and penalties: correspondent banks risk substantial fines and penalties from regulatory authorities in their home jurisdictions and other countries where it operates.

WikIran's disclosure of these financial operations highlights the persistent and ongoing challenge posed by Iranian financial misconduct and reaffirms the essential responsibility of financial institutions in protecting the integrity of the global financial framework from being exploited to bolster Iran's illicit capabilities.