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Mohammad Ghorbaniyan says he was unjustly included on the blacklist.
An Iranian bitcoin trader, Ghorbaniyan was among the portfolio owners whose names and addresses blockchain were added to the sanctions list of the US Department of Treasury Department (OFAC) last week.
But in the wake of that event, Ghorbaniyan told CoinDesk he was unaware of the origins of his seemingly contaminated bitcoin, which according to the OFAC was extorted from over 200 victims including corporations, hospitals, universities and government agencies affected by the SamSam ransomware virus.
From the announcement, Ghorbaniyan said in an exclusive interview with CoinDesk, his Blockchain.info account and the Gmail account were both suspended. He admits to convert bitcoins into Iranian rialials for both individuals listed by the FBI, Mohammad Mehdi Shah Mansouri and Faramarz Shahi Savandi, for several years, but says he had no reason to suspect he had committed an illicit act.
At the very least, its perspective raises questions about how black markets and the adoption of bitcoins from the basic overlap, especially in regions with opaque regulatory requirements.
The US Treasury did not comment when reached.
What follows is a transcription of CoinDesk's interview with Ghorbaniyan, conducted through a translator.
Q: How did you meet Mansouri and Savandi, the alleged hackers associated with the SamSam ransomware virus?
A: I did not know that SamSam's criminal activities were associated with the bitcoins received from these two clients and I'm honestly not sure if these two people are behind the SamSam crimes.
They used common messaging applications like Telegram and WhatsApp. This is the most common way to buy and sell bitcoins in Iran. They were like any other client I've had over the years.
I do a standard know-your-customer (KYC) procedure. And there is no reason to suspect my clients once they have done KYC.
Q: What was your KYC procedure?
A: KYC for the purchase / sale of bitcoins in Iran involves a selfie with bank account cards and national identity cards for the person in the selfie, as well as a telephone number.
Q: Why did you say that you are not sure if these individuals are behind the SamSam ransomware?
A: In one of their chats with me, they said they will sell 50 bitcoins on their own and do not need an exchange for that deal. So, I do not know, there's the possibility that they too were exchangers.
At any time, if necessary, I am ready to provide all data related to my business operations with the Iranian cyber police and the police can send these data to the international authorities for further proceedings.
I have never done criminal activities with these two people and if I had known that some of our clients were associated with criminal activities, then I would refrain from doing business with them.
Unfortunately, our names have been declared by the US Treasury as associated with criminal activities without receiving any contact from the Treasury. We are accused of something we have not done! I was not aware of criminal activities by our clients and I did not commit a crime.
Q: Most regulated trading companies in the United States have strict policies for this reason. Although this is not the requirement in Iran, why do not you need more information to track capital flows?
A: We are an Iranian exchange and we work according to the law of our country, Iran, according to the rules of the Iranian cybernetics police. We, as exchangers, record all the data related to our operations. This includes chat screens and KYC data from our customers. We have never violated the laws of our country.
Is there a database that declares bitcoins associated with criminal activity? If I was trying to do criminal activities, would not I be more concerned with hiding my identity? You can find my bank, phone numbers and the bitcoin address publicly available on my website! Why should I provide this information if I had to take part in criminal activities? These are sufficient evidence and arguments to prove that I am innocent of any accusation!
I met the Iranian cybernetics police last weekend to talk about the next steps. I hope the United States will fix things and remove my name from that list.
Before accusing people of criminal activities, the Treasury must inform the international police to request data and explanations from the Iranian police, who would come to us. We could have stopped this misunderstanding and the wrong accusations.
Image of the statue of Teheran through Shutterstock
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