Nouraei & M. Mostafavi Law Offices – August 26, 2024- Tehran-In 1386 (2008), Iran ratified the Anti-Money Laundering Law. Over the past years, the perpetrators of money laundering have been prosecuted and sentenced to imprisonment, fines, and confiscation of the principal assets and proceeds of the crime.
Various opinions have been raised regarding the reasons for the conviction of perpetrators, mainly business persons. Finally, the Supreme Court of the Country, whose primary role is to supervise the proper implementation of the law in the courts and whose decisions are binding on all courts, resolved the ssue by ruling that ‘Awareness of the criminal origin of the money and the intention for committing money laundering are requirements for the realization of the said criminal title. Therefore, actions that are done out of reluctance, are not subject to punishment due to the lack of money laundering intention’.
The crime of money laundering, according to Article 2 of the said Law, is:
A- Acquiring, possessing, maintaining, or using the proceeds from the illegal activities provided, knowing that they have resulted, directly or indirectly, from committing a crime.
B- Converting, exchanging, or transferring the proceeds to hide its illegal origin with the knowledge that it was directly or indirectly caused by the commission of a crime or assisting the perpetrator in such a manner that he would be able to evade the effects and legal consequences of committing the crime.
C – Hiding or concealing or keeping out of sight of the true nature, origin, source, location, transfer, or ownership of the proceeds resulting directly or indirectly from the crime
It is also specified in Article 3 of the Law that “proceeds crime means any asset that is directly or directly obtained from criminal activities.
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