February 17, 2023
An Iranian-Aamerican woman from California has pleaded guilty to an unwitting role in a foiled plot to kidnap an Iranian activist living in New York and take her back to Tehran.
Niloufar Bahadorifar is not accused of participating in the plot to abduct Masih Alinejad. But US authorities say four Iranians who plotted to kidnap Alinejad paid an American private investigator to watch her and used Bahadorifar as a go-between.
Bahadorifar is accused of helping channel money to the investigator. She said in court in Manhattan December 15 that she was unaware the funds were used to pay the investigator to conduct surveillance. Bahadorifar told the judge she had sent the money to the investigator via PayPal on behalf of a government official in Iran who was a longtime family friend. That is a violation of sanctions.
Bahadorifar’s lawyer said after the hearing that she is herself a victim of a “cancerous” Iranian regime.
“When Iran’s terrorist leaders aren’t slaughtering their own people,” he said, “they’re traveling the globe trying to kill their critics, including the despicable manipulation of Ms. Bahadorifar by an old family friend,” Jeffrey Lichtman said. Bahadorifar is set to be sentenced in April.