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New York Prosecutors Indict Three for Allegedly Running Iranian Hawala

By Brian Monroe

Federal prosecutors indicted three New York men Wednesday for allegedly helping send approximately $300,000 to Iran and other countries through unregistered hawalas, a type of informal money exchange network. Reza Safarha and Nick Mohamey, who ran a carpet store in Queens, and Mohammad Saroush Mahalaty, who owns a home development company in the same borough, separately arranged to transfer the funds despite believing that the money was the proceeds of computer heist, according to two complaints by the Southern District of New York. Investigators netted the men through an informant who recorded conversations with the defendants. On tape, Safarha and...

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