Хонконг — пункт відмивання грошей в Ірані? The Wall Street Journal викриває 4,8 млрд доларів США підпільних грошових переказів

The Wall Street Journal reveals that Hong Kong has become a key hub for the flow of Iranian funds and goods. Through a vast network of shell companies, Iran handles up to 4.8 billion USD in oil revenue each year and purchases drone and missile parts.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, Hong Kong is currently a key hub in Iran’s fund circulation system. Through an intricate network of shell companies and alternative financial channels, Hong Kong not only helps Iran process tens of billions of dollars in massive oil revenue, but also becomes an important stepping stone for Tehran to evade U.S. sanctions and procure controlled sensitive technologies for its military and drone programs.

How has Hong Kong become an important base for Iran’s shadow banking?

The report states that data from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and relevant financial-crime prevention authorities show that, due to the ease of company setup procedures, Hong Kong’s business environment has become a breeding ground for concealing identities of sanctioned targets. In 2024, the scale of Hong Kong entity-level financial transactions related to Iran’s shadow banks is estimated to have reached as much as 4.8 billion USD, with the transaction volume ranking just behind the United Arab Emirates.

These networks, for the most part made up of shell companies, mainly conduct business by converting the renminbi obtained from Iran’s sale of oil into U.S. dollars, euros, or other strong foreign currencies, to meet Iran’s funding needs for international trade.

Iran purchases military and drone components via Hong Kong shell companies

In addition to money laundering, Hong Kong is also a key node for Iran to obtain sensitive military technologies. U.S. authorities point out that Hamed Dehghan, the CEO of a trading company in Iran’s capital Tehran, has since 2019 repeatedly used shell companies in Hong Kong to procure controlled Western technologies worth millions of dollars for Iran’s missile programs and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). These include key electronic components and rocket fuel precursors used to develop the “Shahed” attack drones.

Although the U.S. Department of the Treasury keeps adding the implicated Hong Kong entities to blacklists, the threshold for establishing new companies there is extremely low. As a result, after old companies are sanctioned, new substitute shell companies are often able to be set up quickly and take over the business.

How do funds evade U.S. sanctions?

To avoid scrutiny from the U.S.-based financial system, transactions related to Iran are often deliberately routed around major global multinational banks. The report says that these funds typically clear and settle through small and medium-sized local banks (for example, Kunlun Bank) that lack international business exposure, and they mainly use renminbi as the transaction currency to isolate the risk of investigation.

In addition, Iranian foreign exchange institutions reportedly linked to Iranian commercial banks (such as Bank Tejarat) have reportedly controlled dozens of shell companies in Hong Kong, specializing in managing the movement of underground funds for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Ghost fleet and maritime “source-of-wealth” laundering: Hong Kong’s logistics role in Iran crude oil smuggling

In the area of physical trade, Hong Kong also plays the role of a logistics hub supporting Iran’s “ghost fleet.” Many shipping companies registered in Hong Kong actively help load tankers carrying Iranian crude oil and conduct “ship-to-ship” transfer operations at sea. By forging invoices and altering labels for the origin of the crude oil (typically disguised as Oman or Malaysian crude oil), operators in these networks successfully obscure the true source of the oil, enabling the sanctioned Iranian crude oil to enter refineries in China and other places smoothly, and to circulate covertly within the global trading system.

Hong Kong government refuses to cooperate with unilateral sanctions: the U.S. defensive strategy against shell companies

The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, John Lee Ka-chiu, has explicitly stated that the Hong Kong SAR government only carries out the sanctions resolutions issued by the United Nations Security Council and does not recognize “unilateral sanctions” implemented by individual countries (such as the United States). This policy position allows entities targeted and locked down by the United States to operate freely within Hong Kong, with little worry about being investigated and cracked down on by local law-enforcement agencies.

In the face of the severe challenge posed by the proliferation of shell companies in Hong Kong, U.S. authorities have changed tactics since last October. They have shifted the targets of sanctions and enforcement to institutional entity addresses that specialize in acting as intermediaries to register company business, hoping to cut off Iran’s underground funds and supply chain from the source by increasing the difficulty of establishing shell companies.

• This article is reproduced with authorization from: 《Lian News》
• Original title: 《The Wall Street Journal: Hong Kong becomes a hub for Iran money laundering; exposure of 4.8 billion USD in underground cash flows》
• Original author: Co2