Iranian-Canadian banker under investigation

 

Toronto Sun – Canadian authorities have opened an investigation into suspected citizenship fraud involving the former head of Iran’s biggest bank, state-owned Bank Melli.

A QMI Agency source has confirmed the investigation involves Mahmoud Reza Khavari, who has been a Canadian citizen since 2005.

Khavari resigned from his position at Bank Melli late last month amid a $2.6 billion financial fraud in Iran that has shaken the regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

It’s believed Khavari then left Iran and sought refuge in Toronto, where a luxurious $2.9-million home in the city’s Bridle Path neighbourhood is registered to him.

Khavari’s reported presence in Canada has caused fury among Canadians who’ve escaped Iran’s Islamic theocracy.

“We want to know whether Mr. Khavari has committed any crime in Canada,” said human rights advocate Shabnam Assadollahi. “We want to know where (his) money has come (from) and how he bought this $3-million house. Did he pay cash, and also did he fabricate (his) story about being in Canada during the time he was supposed to be (here) for his citizenship?”

Assadollahi also questions whether Khavari’s work with the Ahmadinejad regime squares with the oath of loyalty to Canada and the Queen that all new citizens must swear.

In a drive to block funding for Iran’s nuclear weapons program and the notorious Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Canada banned financial dealings with Bank Melli and hundreds of other Iranian entities in 2010.

The United States slapped sanctions on Bank Melli in 2007, accusing it of helping fund the Revolutionary Guard.

Washington says, with 125,000 members and extensive financial concerns, the Revolutionary Guard helps pay for Iran’s nuclear program and provide “material support” for the Taliban in Afghanistan, Hamas in the Palestinian Territories, and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

There’s no word on when the investigation involving Khavari will conclude.

 

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