Iran International investigation reveals Revolutionary Guard officials stole millions while faking corruption probe.
Senior officers in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence organization stole approximately $21 million in cryptocurrency under the guise of conducting a corruption investigation, according to a report by Iran International.
The scandal revolves around Cryptoland, a digital exchange shut down following the May 2021 arrest of its CEO, Sina Estavi, according to the report. At the time, Estavi faced no formal accusations, but news of his detention prompted thousands of investors to file complaints. According to the report, over 51,000 plaintiffs emerged after the arrest.
Blockchain records indicate that one day after Estavi’s arrest, six billion BRG tokens were moved from his wallet before the public was even aware of the scandal, per the report. The report alleges that IRGC officers sold the tokens, generating tens of millions of dollars for themselves.
The report stated court-appointed expert identified Mehdi Hajipour and Mehdi Badi as key figures in the scheme. Hajipour, a senior interrogator in the IRGC’s economic branch, controlled wallets that sold over $21 million worth of BRG tokens.
Hajipour was arrested in March 2022 during a sting operation by IRGC counterintelligence agents. He was caught accepting a $10,000 payment from Estavi, who believed he was buying back stolen tokens from a third party—a fabricated identity created by Hajipour.
Citing court documents, Iran International states that Hajipour’s assets had surged from approximately 10 billion rials ($40,000) to 600 billion rials within four months, spent lavishly on real estate, gold, and luxury vehicles, according to the report. The report also alleges that Hajipour led a network of senior IRGC interrogators participating in the scheme.
The second suspect, Mehdi Badi, operated under the alias Dr. Ebadi. He is the nephew of Ali Akbar Hosseini Mehrab, a former high-ranking IRGC intelligence official and current governor of Khuzestan under the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi.
Two additional IRGC interrogators, Majid Jahan Parto and Majid Tabatabaei, were also named as members of the corruption network, along with four other accomplices who reportedly aided the scheme by forging documents, per the report.
There is no available information on the fate of the defendants or their sentences aside from the rejection of Hajipour’s appeal in September 2022. However, Estavi himself was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to return the embezzled funds. He reportedly fled the country due to pressure from the interrogators who had stolen the money themselves.
According to the report, about $14 million of the victims’ funds were repaid from Estavi’s account while he was imprisoned, but approximately 25,000 creditors remain unpaid, their funds allegedly taken by Hajipour, Badi, and their accomplices.
