US unveils sanctions on Turkish businessman over IRGC oil sales
The United States designated what it described as an international oil smuggling and money laundering network led by Turkish businessman Sitki Ayan.
The US Treasury Department on Thursday designated a network led by Turkish businessman Sitki Ayan, which it accused of facilitating the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Ayan’s network both facilitated and concealed the transfer of Iranian oil on behalf of the IRGC's foreign arm, the Quds Force. It said he used his business contacts to sell the oil to buyers in the United Arab Emirates, Europe, China and elsewhere in East Asia, and then funneled the proceeds back to the Quds Force.
ASB Group, a Gibraltar-registered holding company where Ayan serves as director and chairman of the board, was also sanctioned for allegedly transferring millions of dollars in different currencies for the Quds Force.
OFAC designated more than two dozen companies and individuals linked to Ayan, ASB Group and the IRGC-QF. Included in the sanctions was Ayan's son, Bahaddin Ayan.
