November 27, 2020
A Toronto currency exchange business helped Iran secretly wire millions of dollars into Canada in violation of Canadian sanctions.
A Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) report obtained by Global News accuses Alireza Onghaei, the investor immigrant behind the company, of “assisting the government of Iran in the clandestine wiring of monies into Canada.”
The money was routed through Dubai in order to “circumvent sanctions,” CSIS wrote in its December 20, 2019, report on Onghaei, the owner of ONG Currency Exchange Inc., of Toronto.
The total amount allegedly funneled into Canada from Iran was not known, but CSIS wrote, “We assess it to be in the millions.” One transfer alone was for $600,000, according to CSIS.
CSIS did not specify when the alleged transfers took place or what the money was used for, but wrote that its investigation was related to “foreign influenced activities … that are detrimental to the interests of Canada and are clandestine or deceptive.”
ONG Currency Exchange was registered as a Canadian money services business in January 2010. Corporate records show the business was registered to Onghaei’s home address and he was the sole director.
The CSIS report alleged Onghaei’s company would transfer money to Canada from Bank Saderat, which is controlled by the Iranian state. The bank is the subject of Canadian sanctions.
During an interview with CSIS in November 2019, Onghaei “admitted to having owned a private money exchange company that would transfer funds from Bank Saderat and other Iranian financial actors into Canada,” according to the intelligence report.
“For additional clarity, Mr. Onghaei stated that he knows the process of circumventing economic sanctions is clearly illegal. Yet, Mr. Onghaei admitted to having conducted such activities for at least three years,” CSIS wrote.
ONG’s registration was revoked in 2012, according to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).
A 44-year-old Iranian citizen who lives in Vaughn, Ontario, Onghaei, told Global News he was the victim of discrimination and had not transferred any money to Canada for the Iranian regime, which he said he does not support.
“It was not for the government,” he said. The transfers were all for customers who used his company to bring in money from Iran, and Canadian officials could prove no wrongdoing. “They don’t have anything,” he said.
Alireza Onghaei has passports from both Iran and St.-Kitts and Nevis, and is seeking Canadian citizenship.
Global News obtained a copy of the document from the Federal Court, where it is among hundreds of pages filed by the government in a case in which Onghaei was trying to secure Canadian citizenship.
The CSIS report also noted the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) had fined Onghaei $644,000. The reason for the fine was not explained but CSIS wrote that the amount was later reduced to $195,000, and Onghaei “stated that he has yet to pay any owed moneys to the CRA.” Onghaei told Global News he had since paid the CRA.
In his court appeal, Onghaei argued CSIS “misrepresented the content of its interview with him,” particularly in the paragraphs alleging he had admitted to Iranian money transfers.
Soon after arriving in Canada in 2008, Onghaei took on what was described in court as a second wife, and divided his time between her and his family home, the judge wrote, noting his lawyer disputed the term “second wife.”
In 2011, the family visited Iran for the Iranian New Year, according to divorce proceedings in the Ontario court. Onghaei returned to Canada with the children, but not his first wife, whose IDs had all disappeared, according to a court decision.
“Upon realizing that he and the children had left, she discovered that the husband had barred her exit from Iran through the Islamic Airport Control and court officials. Under Islamic law a wife cannot leave Iran without her husband’s permission,” the judge wrote.
“The wife was left in Iran with no money, no identification, no personal possessions and only her travel clothes,” the court wrote. “While trapped in Iran the wife learned that the husband was in the process of selling both Richmond Hill properties.”
She finally returned to Canada but found she “had in effect been replaced” by the other woman and had to move into a motel, the judge wrote in the 2012 decision.
“The wife believes that the husband is a wealthy man worth in excess of 25 million. The husband’s submission is that he is in effect a pauper,” the ruling read, adding, “The husband has made a mystery of the true state of his financial affairs. There is no manner in which the court can assess the husband’s assertion that he is impecunious.”
In 2013, Onghaei applied for Canadian citizenship, but there was a problem: he was wanted in the UAE for allegedly passing bad checks and was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice.
According to a report by the Government of Dubai’s prosecution office, the checks totaled 39-million Emirate dirhams, or $10.6 million in US dollars today. The Interpol notice listed him as wanted for “commercial fraud.” Onghaei explained in an affidavit that he was working on a development project in Dubai but after the 2008 economic crash, he ran out of money. He insisted he was no longer wanted.
