HANEDAN GENERAL TRADING L.L.C

🔴 High Risk

Hanedan General Trading L.L.C is a Dubai-based shell company notorious for its central role in complex international money laundering schemes involving sanctioned Iranian and Russian entities. Operating under the guise of a legitimate trading firm, Hanedan enabled the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars through global financial institutions by exploiting trade-based laundering techniques and invoice fraud. Closely linked to high-profile figures such as Mohammad and Reza Zarrab, the company exemplifies the challenges faced by global regulators in combating cross-border financial crimes within opaque jurisdictions like the UAE. Its activities have drawn intense scrutiny from US authorities and international investigative bodies, highlighting the persistent vulnerabilities in the global anti-money laundering framework.

Hanedan General Trading L.L.C is a Dubai-based shell company that played a central role in laundering over $250 million linked to sanctioned Iranian and Russian interests. Operating under the cover of a legitimate general trading and construction equipment business, it exploited trade-based laundering, invoice fraud, and shell layering techniques to disguise illicit funds moving through major global banks. Owned by key figures including Mohammad and Reza Zarrab, Hanedan was part of a broader network involved in sanctions evasion and bribery schemes. Despite international scrutiny, including US sanctions and legal actions, the company leveraged Dubai’s opaque financial environment to facilitate large-scale money laundering, highlighting ongoing vulnerabilities in the global anti-money laundering framework.

Country of Incorporation

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Headquarters: Dubai, UAE
Main area of operations: Primarily UAE, with cross-border financial transactions involving the US banking system and links to international transfers with Russia, Iran, and possibly other jurisdictions.

General Trading
Construction equipment
Building materials
Possibly involved in broader import/export activities as a front for illicit finance.

Functioned as a shell company/front company
Owned by Mohammad Zarrab, Reza Zarrab, Camelia Jamshidy, and Hossein Jagafzadeh.

Trade-based laundering: Used invoices for goods unrelated to the company’s stated activity to disguise the illicit origin of funds.
Shell layering: Operated as a seemingly legitimate business to layer and mask cross-border wire transfers and illicit proceeds.
Invoice fraud: Transactions were claimed to be for the sale of construction and industrial equipment, but the purpose and provenance were often unverifiable.
Utilization of correspondent banking: Large volumes of money moved through major global banks (JP Morgan, Citi, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Wells Fargo), enabling the international movement and obfuscation of funds in violation of sanctions.

Mohammad Zarrab: Owner/operator, brother of Reza Zarrab and closely involved in operations linked to laundering.
Reza Zarrab: Turkish-Iranian businessman previously indicted and convicted in US for sanctions evasion schemes.

The Zarrab network paid bribes to Turkish political figures (including then-Interior Minister Muammer Guler), and there were payments connected to Mahan Air, a sanctioned Iranian entity involved with Iran’s government.

Azerbaijani Laundromat: Key recipient of suspicious funds from LCM Alliance (British firm core to the Azerbaijani Laundromat scheme).
US Federal Indictments: Named in US court actions for laundering and Iran sanctions evasion.
OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project) investigations.
Rozana FM, ARIJ-supported investigation on Russian money laundering (2013-2014): Connected to a $1.6 million deal with PR-VERT SYSTEM LIMITED.

High.
The UAE has been identified as a haven for such shell and laundering networks, and Hanedan has been directly named on US sanctions lists.
Multiple transactions involved banks in other high-risk jurisdictions.

Sanctioned by the US: Named on the US Treasury OFAC sanctions list for connections to Iran sanctions evasion.
Subject of federal indictments: Charges in US for laundering, sanctions violations, and false invoicing; Zarrab himself was indicted.
Dubai authorities non-responsive: No meaningful engagement from UAE regulatory authorities or banks involved during investigative reporting.

Under Investigation / Sanctioned.
The group has been under multi-jurisdictional scrutiny since 2013 for multiple money laundering and sanctions violations; some associated entities may be defunct, but Hanedan is referenced in ongoing US sanctions enforcement.

2010–2015: Hanedan processed more than $250 million via US and EU financial institutions, often disguising the true nature and source of the funds.
2013: Received $4.2 million from LCM Alliance (Azerbaijani Laundromat network); involved in $1.6 million construction equipment deal with PR-VERT SYSTEM LIMITED in April 2013, wired via Bank of Baroda in Dubai.
2013-2014: Major focus of Russian Laundromat money flow investigations via Rozana FM and OCCRP; listed among 13 UAE entities facilitating suspicious flows from Russia and other high-risk countries.
2016–present: Included in OCCRP and US government documentation of global financial crimes; US sanctions and legal proceedings ongoing.
2021: Further banking and legal scrutiny as new details of the Zarrab network’s tactics emerge in the US and EU.
2023–2025: Hanedan remains listed in regulatory and investigative reports as a key node in Iranian/Russian laundering networks.

Trade-Based Laundering, Layering, Invoice Fraud, Shell Company

MENA – Gulf States/EU/Russia/Iran

High Risk Country (UAE, Russia, Iran, cross-border US/EU exposure)

HANEDAN GENERAL TRADING L.L.C

HANEDAN GENERAL TRADING L.L.C
Country of Registration:
United Arab Emirates
Headquarters:
Al Rigga, Deira, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Jurisdiction Risk:
High
Industry/Sector:
General Trading, Construction, Import/Export
Laundering Method Used:

Shell layering, Trade-based laundering, Invoice fraud, Sanctions evasion

Linked Individuals:

Mohammad Zarrab, Reza Zarrab, Camelia Jamshidy, Hossein Jagafzadeh

Known Shell Companies:

Connected to Azerbaijani Laundromat and other shell company networks

Offshore Links:
1
Estimated Amount Laundered:
Over $250 million
🔴 High Risk