In NY testimony, money launderer Reza Zarrab downplayed his business in Russia.
Interviews with Zarrab’s courier and deep data dives show how deep it ran—& its ties to the Magnitsky scandal.
Part 2 of the series.
Exclu: @OCCRP & @CourthouseNews courthousenews.com/by-suitcase-an…
Zarrab, while still in his early 20s, was the co-owner of Bella Investments Company LLC, a Dubai-based “investment company” that secretly handled around $1.25 billion in suspicious wire transactions involving Russian and offshore entities.
Several transactions were tied to the massive tax fraud exposed by the late Russian whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky.
More on the Magnitsky scandal here: courthousenews.com/rights-court-c…
Zarrab’s company Bella Investments also received payments from offshore companies that have been linked to slave labor in Azerbaijan and petroleum illegally shipped to President Bashar al-Assad’s Syria.
When asked if Zarrab’s company Bella conducted any real commercial activity, the money launderer’s former courier Adem Karahan told us: “No, it didn't.”
The Southern District of New York declined to comment on this investigation.
In case you missed Part 1 of this series:
Go back to that thread and story here.
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