U.S. Imposes Sanctions on A7 Shadow Banking Network Tied to Iran and Russia
The U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on the A7 shadow banking network linked to Russia, used by Iran to fund proxy groups. The network is headed by oligarch Ilan Shor.
The United States is tightening economic pressure on Tehran. The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced on Thursday the imposition of sanctions against the A7 network, a shadow banking apparatus with ties to Russia.
Financial Sanctions and Targets
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the network was used by Iran to bypass sanctions and provided financial support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iranian proxies, including Hamas.
The network has been designated as a transnational criminal organization, and its assets in the U.S. or under the control of U.S. persons have been frozen. It is headed by Ilan Shor, a Moldovan oligarch and politician with Israeli citizenship, born in Tel Aviv in 1987, who was convicted of fraud.
"If you assist in the illicit financing of America's adversaries, you will lose access to the U.S. financial system," warned Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Methods and Global Operations
According to the U.S. Treasury, the network uses third-country companies and forged trade documents to disguise illicit money transfers as regular commercial transactions.
Shor previously served as the mayor of Orhei and as a member of parliament in Moldova. In 2023, he was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the theft of approximately one billion dollars from the country's banking system. He fled to Israel in 2019 and later moved to Russia.
