In 2017, a former CIA counterterrorism officer, Philip Giraldi of the American Herald Tribune newspaper, warned about the relationship between the MEK and American politicians and the increasing rise of the formerly-terrorist designated group in the United States. Giraldi ironically stated that if you are a terrorist group and have a history of carrying out terrorist operations against Iran and the United States itself, you can easily pay and spend money in Washington, even having a lobby office on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.

This law is actually known as the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which was passed in 1938. It requires lobbyists and representatives of foreign entities in the United States to register their activities and expenses with the Department of Justice, and its main goal is to provide transparency about foreign influence on American policymaking and public opinion.
As a terrorist group, the MEK also used this mechanism to survive in the United States. The group was registered with the US Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). According to documents and data registered on the OpenSecrets website, the MEK’s expenses for lobbying with American institutions reached about $516,000 in 2017, about $440,000 in 2018, and $60,000 in the first quarter of 2019!

In fact, this American law had led to the formation of multi-million-dollar contracts between Rajavi’s terrorist organization and lobbying companies in the United States in those years, and it had gone so far that many American politicians had united in their advocacy on behalf of the MEK. Before 2012 and their removal from the terrorist list, the fee for a speech in favor of this terrorist organization was $15,000; but according to the latest report by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Randall in 2017, the latest fee for each speech in favor of the MEK was $150,000.

Who is the leader of the MEK’s lobbying team in the US?

Farzaneh Yazdanpanah, the main agent of the MEK’s intelligence headquarters, is responsible for communicating with US parliamentary officials. She has been in contact with Secretary of State Mark Rubio in the past and has pursued numerous lobbying projects with this American official.

Farzaneh Yazdanpanah, the main agent of the MEK’s intelligence headquarters

Farzaneh is not the only member of the Yazdanpanah family involved with the MEK. Her brother, Parviz Yazdanpanah, was also a member of the organization. He fled Iran in 1986 and he now lives with his wife, Ensiyeh Hosseini (under the organizational name Ensiyeh Yazdanpanah), in El Sobrante, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Parviz Yazdanpanah

According to a report published in 2016 about Parviz Yazdanpanah, he works as a florist in San Francisco undercover. Parviz also had another sister, Parvaneh Yazdanpanah, who was killed in the MEK’s cross border operation against Iran in 1988.
Of course, Farzaneh Yazdanpanah is not the only MEK lobbyist in the United States. Hedayatollah Mostofi is also another agent of the MEK who, in cooperation with Yazdanpanah, is a member of their lobby. Mostofi has established many connections with Mark Rubio through Senator Margaret Dougherty and is considered Yazdanpanah’s correspondent in Rajavi’s lobbying projects.

Ali Safavi

Ali Safavi is another influential element of the Cult of Rajavi in the United States. Safavi is the spokesman for the MEK’s office in Washington. He has spent some time at Camp Ashraf, Iraq, where he underwent terrorist training and ideological indoctrination.

He has also participated in organizing and creating terrorist teams at Camp Ashraf and sending them inside Iran. After receiving individual military training and succeeding in ideological induction courses, he was called back to the European office of the group. He has also served as a representative of the National Council of Resistance (the political cover of the MEK) in the United States.

Safavi is also a member of the organization’s Foreign Relations Committee and manages the MEK Economic Network, which is supported by wealthy firms based in Europe and North America. This network, under the guise of charitable donations, provides financial resources for the MEK’s actions against Iran.

Through the income from this network, Safavi has connections with the Republican and Democratic parties in the United States. Safavi was one of those who organize the MEK’s rallies against Iranian government, in the United States.
Another lobbyist of the MEK in the US is Alireza Jafarzadeh, who is the representative and versatile of the group in the United States.

He joined the MEK in 1981 when he was a student in the US and served as one of the spokespersons in the group’s diplomatic relations department. In June 1986, when Massoud Rajavi was expelled from France and transferred to Iraq, the French government expelled a number of MEK members to Gabon.

Following these expulsions, the MKO terrorist organization’s organizations went on strike, and many of its members and officials from different countries called for suicide and self-immolation operations. Alireza Jafarzadeh was one of those officials who announced his willingness to perform self-immolation.

After the MEK was listed as a terrorist group in 1997, it was unable to continue its previous activities. So Jafarzadeh continued his service as a columnist for the Huffington Post since 2006, and the, he was recruited by the warmonger’s media group, Fox New, where he appeared as a commentator and analyst of international relations.

In addition, Jafarzadeh was the one who allegedly disclosed the Iranian nuclear sites and scientists.

Sona Samsami is another high-ranking member of MEK who is in charge of the organization’s Washington office. She was in Camp Ashraf for about a year in 1986 and was sent to the United States after receiving espionage and terrorist training.

Sona Samsami

Sona Samsami, along with Alireza Jafarzadeh, played a role as the person in charge of the case of exposing the nuclear activities of the Islamic Republic of Iran. She is now the organization’s representative in Washington, responsible for lobbying American political retirees for speeches worth several hundred dollars in support of the MEK.

She is also one of the coordinators of the self-immolations of MEK members abroad. Samsami is one of those MEK high-ranking members who is mostly detested by former members of the group. She has played a major role in suppressing female members of the MEK, both at Camp Ashraf and abroad.

Hassan Soltani

Hassan Soltani is another of Farzaneh Yazdanpanah’s associates in lobbying with American officials and senators. He is also the MEK’s agent for money laundering in the US territory in order to pay American politicians. Until recent years, these funds were paid directly, but after a while, in order to evade money laundering charges and being traced, he pays them in form of expensive watches and small gold bars.

Documents on MEK lobbying and money laundering

Documents on MEK lobbying and money laundering

Documents on MEK lobbying and money laundering

The post Who are the MEK’s lobbyists in the US government? appeared first on Nejat Society.

France’s TF1 Info began with a controversial headline: “Is Maryam Rajavi, leader of the MEK, skilled in thalassotherapy?”
Thalassotherapy (from the Greek word thalassa, meaning “sea”) is the use of seawater as a form of therapy. It also includes the systematic use of sea products and shore climate. It refers to a variety of treatments that use saltwater and seaweed, each designed to cleanse, soothe and revitalize the skin and body. And so far, according to documents obtained by French media, it has cost Maryam Rajavi over 130,000 euros.

TF1 Info then introduced the MEK and Maryam Rajavi’s background, referring to the “terrorist” status of this cult by the Iranian people and the European Union, and gave an overview of the group’s terrorist background and actions in France, then Iraq, and again in France.

The report implies the cooperation of the MEK with the French government. The TF1’s report was published after claims by the leaders of this terrorist group that they had protested against French politicians and media, calling them accomplices of the Iranian government.

While residents of Ashraf 3 are rationed for food and hygiene products and are constantly criticized for the costs they impose on the group, Maryam Rajavi, with a dozen bodyguards, rents a five-star hotel for her private stay. She enjoys fancy medical services under the flamboyant name of thalassotherapy, while just a few months ago the group asked Mehdi Javedan’s family outside the organization to cover the cost of his heart surgery. Mehdi Javedan, a longtime member of her organization, died two months ago.

Days after the publication of the reports of French media, the organization is still busy responding, or in better words, accusing. The responses are full of generalizations, repetition of the usual statements, and slander and libel.

Documents on money laundering

By the way, the MEK cult is currently in a very weak position vis-à-vis the French government. It is very likely that after France, the governments of Canada, the United States, and other countries will purse the MEK’s financial resources and the group’s money laundering network.

The story of the baths and massage therapy with ocean mud and sediments to rejuvenate the skin of the self-proclaimed president of the resistance, Maryam Rajavi, the payment of large tips and numerous bribes to keep her and her companions’ identities secret, prompted the French government to make sure whether the financial resources for these expenses were provided by the MEK.

The French judiciary is reportedly investigating the matter, as between December 2024 and February 2025, two reports under Article 40 of the French Code of Criminal Procedure regarding the possibility of money laundering were submitted to the prosecutors of Ile-de-France and Hauts-de-France.

The reports point to companies that appear to be operating as financial fronts for the MEK. Front companies and institutions play a significant role in the MEK’s money laundering and revenue-generating network.

The organization was classified as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union between 1997 and 2013. The group holds annual fundraising campaigns from its members and supporters. Last year alone, more than 7 million euros were raised in this way, some of which was spent on skin rejuvenation for Maryam and other high-ranking members of the organization, and the rest was spent on inciting Western governments through paid speeches and signing declarations against the Iranian government.

France’s relationship with the MEK

It seems that the MEK is a tool for France to gain concessions from the Islamic Republic regime. This rule has always been true for traitors who are tools in the hands of rivals or opponents. On March 18, Le Canard Enchainé exposed Maryam Rajavi’s luxurious life and her money laundering through front companies, probably under the guidance of the French intelligence and security agency DGSE.

Many believe that the recent article in Le Canard Enchainé was the prelude to an exchange between the two governments. 48 hours after the article was published, François Macron announced the release of a French citizen in Iran. In this way, France, for its own economic interests, is gaining some of the Islamic Republic’s consent by putting pressure on the MEK.
The DGSE is aware of the money laundering and fake identities of the front organizations and Rajavi’s dirty nature, but it is not taking any practical action. Which group with such a track record in France is allowed to commit these violations, such that they are constantly in the squares of Paris defrauding Parisian citizens for fake charities to cover the cost of Maryam Rajavi’s thalassotherapy? It seems that France is always monitoring the MEK, but it also needs a weakened version of it.

Mazda Parsi

The post Why are the MEK’s blatant money laundering documents being ignored? appeared first on Nejat Society.

Several MEK members were arrested and put under investigation at the time. Susan Ghajar Azdanloo, the sister of Maryam Ghajar Azdanloo (Rajavi) was one of those members of the MEK who were arrested or subjected to investigation in December 2001 under a joint FBI/ Cologne Police Department operation.

On November 29, 2004, FBI published a detailed summary of information learned during criminal investigation of the MEK that was at the time a designated foreign terrorist organization. According to the 2004 FBI document, presented to the US Department of Justice, a year after the French Police released Maryam Rajavi, “Los Angeles investigation had determined that the MEK is currently actively involved in planning and executing acts of terrorism. The planning takes place at MEK bases in Iraq and at the Auver Sur Oise location in Paris, France. Los Angeles has consensually recorded numerous telephone calls in which MEK leaders at this French location discuss specific acts of terrorism to include bombings. Joint investigation with the French DST and the German Cologne Police Department has revealed similar findings from French and German wire taps.”

Beginning with a brief history of the group’s criminal activities, the FBI reported that its investigation had determined that the MEK was very active in fund raising. This was done through a complicated international money laundering operation that uses accounts in Turkey, Germany, France, Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
The testimonies of former child soldiers of the MEK such as Atefeh Sebdani, Amir Yaghmai, Ray Torabi who has several times spoke about their fundraising activities under the command of the MEK offices in Canada, US, Sweden and France, confirm FBI’s investigations.

However, the fraud to exploit social benefits of the MEK’s children in western countries was only investigated by the Cologne Police. The report tells of a scheme organized by MEK where the group used children with multiple identities to collect social benefits in Germany, then used the money to purchase large quantities of night vision goggles and GPS systems to improve accuracy of mortar attacks in Tehran.

There were over a hundred of the children of Mujahed parents who had been smuggled by the group agents to Cologne, Germany where they were kept in team houses. Amin Golmaryami, former child soldier of the MEK, and his brothers were among those children. The group used the social salary that the German government allocated to the children while a large number of these children were then smuggled back to Iraq to be recruited in the MEK’s army. The German journalist, Luisa Hommerich from De Ziet investigated the case in December 2021, in an interview with Amin Golmaryami.

Maryam Rajavi’s sister, arrested in the joint FBI/Cologne Police operation

The FBI report offers details about those MEK members who were involved in the group’s fraud scheme in Cologne:
Susan Azdanloo, MEK member. Arrested in December 2001 in Cologne Germany in a joint FBI/Cologne Police Department operation. Involved in a complex fraud scheme involving children and social benefits.

Mohammad Ebrahim Moshiri, MEK member. Current joint FBI/Cologne Police Department subject. Fugitive from December 2001 joint FBI/Cologne Police Department operation. Involved in a complex fraud scheme involving children and social benefits. Was the MEK procurement officer for military equipment. Joint investigation showed that MOSHIRI used money from this fraud scheme to purchase equipment including night vision in Cologne Germany and then shipped it to United Arab Emirates where it was sent to MEK bases in Iraq.

Sepid Majid Salem, MEK supporter/member. Arrested in Cologne Germany during the December 2001 joint FBI/Cologne Police Department operation. A U.S. citizen claimed no affiliation with the MEK even though he was arrested in one of their houses in Cologne. Claimed to be Virginia resident. Provided 4300 Evergreen Lane #302. Annandale, VA 22003, as his last address in the US.

Bita Mahmoudi, MEK member/supporter. Current joint FBI/Cologne Police Department subject. Was arrested in December 2001 in Cologne Germany in a joint FBI/ Cologne Police Department operation. Involved in a complex fraud scheme involving children and social benefits. Recently applied for citizenship in the U.S.

Mohammad Karami, former member of the MEK explains that in 1993 and 1994 a number of charity organizations, schools and orphanages were established by the MEK agents in some western countries. According to him, Susan Ghajar Azdanloo, the younger sister of Maryam Ghajar Azdanloo (Maryam Rajavi), was also on the board of directors of one of these associations and a school that was established in the name of orphaned children, and they received funding from the government for this school.

There were definitely many other MEK agents who were involved in similar fraud schemes to confiscate social benefits of MEK children in other western countries including Sweden where Atefeh Sebdani and her brothers and a large number of other children were settled under an MEK fostering system. After the release of Atefeh Sebdani’s autobiography, the Swedish human rights and child care bodies were criticized for being so inconsiderate about such cases.

Mazda Parsi

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According to a report by the Associated Press, over the years, the MEK has been targeted in a series of investigations around the world for running charity scams. MEK’s fake charity scams prey on people’s goodwill and generosity. They pretend to be representatives of a legitimate Iranian group but they are actually a terrorist cult loathed by the Iranians.
Ray Torabi, former child soldier of the MEK has published a film and some photos of the MEK’s alleged charity campaign in London in order to warn British citizens about the threat of the MEK fraud:

British people be aware!

Recently such stands have been popping up all over London and Manchester and perhaps other cities, where Iranians from a so-called “Inspired Charity” organization are collecting signatures and DONATIONS for victims of the Islamic regime in Iran and the promotion of human rights. HOWEVER, they are a fraud and actually members of an extremist Islamic cult called the Mujahedin-e Khalgh (MEK). They portray themselves as moderate but only do so to lure you into making a donation. They use the pictures and names of victims of the Islamic regime in Iran such as #mahsa_amini but in reality are hated by the families of these victims. The MEK is loathed by the Iranian people and are known to have committed a wide range of atrocities against their own people and even members. My father, who was a MEK member was tortured and killed by the cult. I myself, along with hundreds of other teens, was recruited as a child soldier by them in the late 90s. My mother and many other members of my family are currently trapped in the cult’s camp where they have been brainwashed and completely disconnected from the outside world and have cut all ties with me. As a teen, I took part in such charity schemes of the MEK in Canada and the US and I speak based on personal experience. I was a member of the cult for 18 years and managed to escape 7 years ago.

Please know and understand that your money will not only not go to victims of the Islamic regime in Iran and for fighting extremism, but it will actually fund an extremist Islamic cult bent on establishing their own fanatic idea of Islam in Iran and one that brainwashes and violated the most basic human rights of its own members on a daily basis.
In February 2017, Jon Gambrell of the Associated Press reported that an FBI probe found MEK members hustled travelers arriving to Los Angeles International Airport, asking them to donate after showing them binders of photographs of disaster or torture victims. The money instead went to banks in Belgium, France, Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to “support MEK operations and activities, including terrorist activities,” a 2007 indictment against seven members said.
The report also revealed facts about an MEK scam charity in Britain, called “Aid Association”. According to that, in 2001, in Britain, authorities dissolved a charity associated with the MEK that had made an estimated 5 million pounds a year. Its investigation found some donors “were misled into believing they were personally sponsoring individual children when this was not in fact the case.”

The donated money finally went to the headquarters of the group where Maryam Rajavi is based. In the 2003 raids in France, police found $1.3 million, mostly in $100 bills, at MEK-affiliated properties, reported the Associated Press.

Ray Torabi posted a photo of the alleged donation form that is supposed to be signed by donators. According to the form, donators pay the so-called Inspired charity to save the lives of victims in Iran. Torabi asks the families of the alleged victims a crucial question:
“Have you ever received financial aid from the Mujahedin? If not, then don’t let them take advantage of your pain and suffering. This fraud of the MEK must be exposed and scandalized.”

Mazda Parsi

The post Warning to British Citizens on the MEK’s Fraudulent charity appeared first on Nejat Society.

In a report released on Tuesday, September 19, the Iranian newspaper said it has obtained information about several companies that have provided large-scale financial aid to the MKO terrorists in the past years.

The list includes:

1. “Red Granite Pictures”, an American Film Production Company

– Owner: Reza Aziz
– Asset value: $25 million

Reza Shahriz bin Abdul Aziz, better known as Reza Aziz, was born into a political family in Malaysia. His mother married former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and adopted Reza.

2. Glazer Investment Company

– Executive Director: Avram Glazer
– Asset value: $1,200 million

Avram Glazer is an American businessman and the son of the wealthy Glazer family. His family company owns Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) and holds a majority ownership stake in English football club Manchester United F.C.

Glazer family has also extensive charitable and political activities in its portfolio.

3. West Coast Prime Meat Company and International Pacific Seafood

– Founder and CEO: Craig Nikoloff
– Asset value: $100 million

Nikoloff was first famous for Claim Jumper chain restaurants, and then became one of the largest meat industry producers by establishing West Coast Prime Meat.

He is also one of the main suppliers of the network close to Ali Safavi.

4. Koyu Hotel Group

– Executive director: Tokutaro Umezawa
– Asset value: $35 million

Tokutaro Umezawa is the CEO of Koyu Hotels in America. These hotels are the main supporters of Ali Safavi network.

5. The Last bookstore

– Owner: Josh Spencer
– Asset value: $1.5 million

Josh is the co-founder of The Last bookstore, one of the 10 largest bookstores in the world and the largest bookstore in California.

6. Jeen Well Company

– CEO: Zhihiao Lu
– Asset value: $150 million

Zhihiao Lu was born in a wealthy Malaysian family in China. His grandfather is the founder of MWE Holding, which has gambling, real estate and alcohol manufacturing companies under his umbrella.

The MKO members, who are currently at a camp near Tirana, spent many years in Iraq, where they were hosted and armed by the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. They sided with Saddam during the 1980-88 imposed war against Iran and then helped him quell domestic uprisings in various parts of the Arab country.

The hated group is responsible for killing thousands of Iranian civilians and officials after the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

More than 17,000 Iranians, many of them civilians, have been killed at the hands of the MKO in different acts of terrorism including bombings in public places, and targeted killings.

The post Report Discloses Sponsors of MKO Terrorists appeared first on Nejat Society.

Massoud Kalani, a high-ranking member of the MEK and presenter on their satellite television, asking for donations for the cult

This so-called charity organization does not hide the fact that it is supporting the goals of the MEK, a terrorist cult which has not only advocated violence and bloodshed for regime change but killed 12,000 people in Iran since 1981. And through all these years, London has been the centre for the illegal financial activities of the MEK from its bogus charities to having a chain of buildings and even hotels and shops apparently donated to these charities.
London is well known for having been a haven for the money laundry activities of the MEK over many years. Going back to the 1980s and the registered charity organization called “Iran Aid” which had the support of many British politicians and then later proved to be a front group for the MEK set up for deception and fraud. Amazingly the British authorities let this charity operate unchallenged and the MEK opened and registered other charity organizations.

London is well known for having been a haven for the money laundry activities of the MEK over many years

It should be clear to everyone who is familiar with the MEK that the purpose of these registered charities is money laundry. Money is paid as donation by cheques and cash in large sums and then transferred to the UAE (Dubai) for so called charity spending and at that point all trace of the money disappears. The MEK’s charities are registered in the name of low-ranking members of the cult who conveniently vanish if and when there is any problem and then another charity is registered immediately to replace it. The MEK is equally known for its people smuggling as well as money laundry.

Is it customary in the UK that a terrorist group can register a charity to collect donations to be used for extremist agenda?
Is it customary in the UK that a terrorist – or even a political – group can register a charity to collect donations to be used for propaganda for its political – especially extremist – agenda? Does the Charity Commissioner approve such behaviour which violates its own regulations? Certainly, the MEK is not an unknown group. The Charity Commission should ensure that a full investigation is conducted into this blatant breach of its own rules.

The post MEK’s so-called charity breaches rules of the UK Charity Commission appeared first on Nejat Society.

This seems to be a notable act since MKO’s traditional approaches of fundraising in the European countries still stand on place. These fundraisings are usually undertaken under the cover of charity works and titled as “social-financial” activities. The group’s TV channel also launches programs named “collaboration” to achieve the same goal.

Many former MKO members, who have defected from the cult, believe the money that the MKO receives from such activities, is not sufficient even for covering a small part of the group’s expenses; recruiting lobbyists from around the world, organizing various conferences on different occasions and the money spent on other activities to promote their goals, are just a portion of their costs.

On the other side, knowing the cult doesn’t enjoy the support of a lot of people who are willing to financially support it, and also that most of their supporters are living outside Iran and it has been a long time since they have been made to pay the group an amount of money monthly, a question is raised about the nature of such an activity at this moment.

There is an initial assumption which is mainly coming from the cult’s critics and its defected members, which is that after Saddam’s fall and the cessation of Ba’ath regime’s financial support, the MKO is now facing a financial crisis and is trying to compensate for it in every possible way including the online fundraising.

But as mentioned before, since the MKO doesn’t enjoy the public support, it won’t be able to raise much money through this means. Although it is a fact that the MKO is suffering from a financial crisis, it doesn’t seem the main reason behind the group’s online fundraising is dealing with the crisis.

On the other hand, since it is possible to create various virtual accounts using different IPs from several countries in the internet, and there are many complicated ways to make the donors look a lot, online fundraising is a good approach for covering the cult’s money laundering activities and also a good way to hide the real sources where the MKO is receiving its money from.

One of the most challenging problems the MKO is now facing, is that the group’s bank accounts and financial transactions are under constant surveillance in Europe and that is why the cult’s ringleaders are trying out all the possible ways to hide their sources of receiving money which are mainly composed of smuggling and illegal businesses.

The post MKO’s online fundraising; an approach to money laundering appeared first on Nejat Society.

We are informed that Mojahedin khalq, aka, National Council of Resistance, aka PMOI,aka MEK has started a fund raising program claiming that the collected money would be spend on behalf of those people who were hurt in the recent earthquake in Iran. Sources report that MEK leadership has told its activists that it is an excellent opportunity to collect a large amount of money for the organization (MEK).

According to the information we have received, MEK cell leaders in most of European countries including UK, France, Netherlands, Sweden and also in North America are told to use any possible means in order to collect money.

MEK activists are to approach Iranian communities as well as humanitarian organizations and individuals in western countries and try to raise funds for their claim. MEK members who are active in this program have learned not to introduce themselves as the group’s members and fake their real identity.

Hereby we would like to inform all organizations and individuals about the terrorist group`s intentions that collected funds by MEK is not to support any humanitarian cause but for supporting a terrorist organization and its money laundry activities.

MEK is a Foreign Terrorist Organization and is black listed by the US government. According to US law, any financial support to this group means supporting worldwide terrorism and is subject to charges.

We would like to ask all humanitarian organizations and individuals who are willing to support Iranian victims of earthquake to send their helps through known and verified sources such as the Red Cross. Also any suspicious people who try to collect money should be referred to law enforcement organizations.

Community of Independent Bloggers

The post Mojahedin Khalq new scam to collect money in the west appeared first on Nejat Society.

Besides, Security Council of the United Nations on September 28, 2001, issued Resolution 1373 calling on “all states to combat international terrorism". By resolution 1373 the council established a committee of the council "to monitor the resolution’s implementation and called an all States to report on actions they had taken to that end.”[2]

“the council also decided that States should prohibited their nationals and persons or entities in their territories from making funds, financial assets, economic resources, financial or other related services available to persons commit or attempt to commit, facilitate or participate in the commission of terrorist acts”, according to the resolution." States should also refrain from providing any form of support to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts; take the necessary steps to prevent the commission of terrorist acts, deny safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, commit terrorist acts and provide safe havens as well.”[3]

The resolution also calls on the states to intensify and accelerate the exchange of information regarding terror acts and forged or falsified documents made by terrorist groups. Thus, it doesn’t seem so difficult to figure out financial resources of the MKO if the US Treasury Department is truly concerned about them – and it must be concerned.

While the MKO’s spokesman Ali Safavi said the funds for the pro-MKO campaign come from Iranian Americans [4], there are various reports and testimonies on the group’s affluent resources.

According to the Guardian article, some US officials who suspect Safavi’s claim, say because of the amounts involved, money is coming from other sources, mostly likely Saudi Arabia and Israel.[5]

The report somehow confirms what former CIA official Philip Giraldi had previously revealed on the MKO-Israel relationship-both financial and military.”The group appear to have ample financial resources, and it is generally believed that at least some of the money comes from Mossad,” he writes.” the MEK is able to place full-page ads in major US newspapers and is also known to pay hefty speaker’s fees to major political figures who are willing to speak publicly on its behalf.”[6]

Justin Raimondo, the editor of antiwar.com finds it fair to ask where all this unaccounted for cash is coming from. "while the Rajavi-ites use the familiar methods employed by cults to strip their members of all their assets -see the AlJazeera video for a heart-rending account of how a major MEK spokesman ripped off his own elderly parents- it seems likely that, during their sojourn as Saddam Hussein’s favorite assassins, the MEK received compensation from the Iraqi dictator for slaughtering the Kurds and other regime opponents so efficiently and ruthlessly,” Raimondo asserts. He concludes that those former US officials are actually “recipients of Saddam’s gold.”[7]

It sounds that Saddam Hussein has been the group’s basic financial resource including funds illegally siphoned from the UN Oil-for-Food program until the fall of Iraqi dictator in 2003.[8] The report is confirmed by testimonies of former members of the group. Mrs. Maryam Sanjabi, a former member of the MKO’s elite council said that based on agreements held between MKO ringleaders and Iraq’s officials in 1987,saddam’s regime allocated the revenues gained from selling 50000 barrels per day of oil to the MEK in addition to arms and logistic, reported FNA.[9]

Sanjabi revealed that the group used to smuggle the Iraqi oil supplies to foreign markets after Kuwait war and the UN oil embargo against Saddam’s regime! the group used its front companies to sell Iraqi oil. Ali Hussein Nezhad who was Rajavi’s Private interpreter in the MKO, escaped the group in late April. Immediately after his defection, he published an announcement in which he denounces the “cult of Rajavi” . regarding the group’s financial resources, Hussein Nezhad writes:”As we see, Rajavi’s claims of Iranian’s financial support for the group and all his tricks in fundraising programs are shallow and just like a cover to hide the oil resources they plundered from Iraqi people; like a justification to whiten their multi-million operating cost.”[10]

He reveals facts of Saddam’s generosity towards Massoud Rajavi:”in his last visit with Saddam Hussein in August 2000, Rajavi asked Hussein to increase his oil share up to 100 thousand barrels a day (3 million barrels a month), according to documents and letters I translated or reports composed by his closest comrades that I could read.”

He explained how the MKO managed to turn Saddam’s gifts into dollars: ”Rajavi received his oil share in coupons which were then sent to Europe to be changed into dollars.”[11]
Rajavi’s quota from Iraqi oil also included other amounts of oil funneled to his cult by Saddam Hussein out of UN Oil for Food program, according to Hussein Nezhad.[12]
Naturally, the MKO revenue from oil resources was invested in European banks and industry, the former MKO member revealed.

Considering various reports and testimonies on the group’s financial resources, it actually seems simple to discover the origins of their funds. It won’t be so difficult to find the affiliated companies working with this terrorist designated group and definitely simple to prove the felony committed by their material supporters.

By Mazda Parsi

References:
[1] Shane, Scott, US Supporters of Iranian Group Face Scrutiny New York times,March13,2012
[2] Security Council, Press release SC/7158,4385th Meeting (night) Security Council unanimously Adopts Wide-ranging Anti-terrorism Resolution/September28,2001
[3] ibid
[4]McGreal, Chris, Banned Iranian Terror Group lobbies for legitimacy on capital Hill,Guardian,May22,2012
[5]ibid
[6]Giraldi, Philip. The MEK’s Useful Idiots, Antiwar.com, March 08,2012
[7]Raimondo, Justin, Hillary’s Terrorists, Antiwar.com , May16,2012.
[8]US Department of State, Country Reports on Terrorism 2009
[9]FNA, defected member unveils MKO’s major share in Saddam’s Oil Revenues, June5, 2012
[10] Sahar Family Foundation, Hidden sources of MKO funds revealed, Translated by Nejat Soceity,June02, 2012
[11]ibid
[12]ibid

The post Simple Answer to MKO’s Financial Resources Puzzle appeared first on Nejat Society.

The first time MKO and its front organization were investigated for fraudulent fund raising activities, was in 1996 in Britain. UK Charity Commission which is a governmental body to supervise charity institutes began investigation on Iran Aid Charity that was then proved to be a front group of MKO Cult. In 1997, UK Charity Commission closed Iran Aid Charity after it was proved to be linked to Mujahedin Khalq Organization.[1]

In September 2000, Simon Gillespie, director of operation at UK Charity commission told news media," after two years’ investigation, Iran Aid has failed to give us verifiable evidence that money donated by British public was actually spent on charitable work in Iran."[2]

About a year after UK’s probe against MKO, in March 2001,"five Iranian nationals and two Iranian Americans appeared in federal court in Los Angeles on charges of raising more than $1 million to fund terrorist activities abroad," reported Los Angeles Times. The report clarifies that most of the money was solicited from unsuspecting travelers at LA International Airport and sent to bank accounts in Turkey controlled by MKO. James V. De Sarno Jr. an authority of FBI Los Angeles office said that the "suspected money has been used to buy arms.” The travelers were shown photos of starving children and victims of alleged Iranian government atrocities and told the money was used to support refugees, according to LA Times.[3]

In 2009 Federal Bureau of Investigation of Los Angeles reported the seven arrested MKO members were pleaded guilty by US District Court, Judge David O.Carter. The seven defendants admitted that they knowingly raised funds to support the activities of the MEK by collecting money from MEK supporters and soliciting money from unwilling donors at public locations such as Los Angeles International airport, according to Department of Justice Press Release.[4]

MKO’s deceptive fund raising activities did not end in US District Court. The opportunists of Rajavi’s Cult also use human disasters as an appropriate channel to funnel money in to the cult’s pocket. In January 2004, after the catastrophic earthquake in Bam, Iran, Mujahedin Khalq held their so called "night of solidarity with Bam Survivors."FBI agents attended the event because they doubted legitimacy of the event, and the next day the Treasury Department froze the assets of the event’s prime organizer, the Iranian – American Community of Northern Virginia.[5]Jackie Flowers who was asked about the events relation with bam earthquake is a spokesman for the Red Cross. She told Glenn Kessler of Washington Post that “the relief agency had been contacted by the sponsors about receiving funds raised at the event several weeks before it took place. But the Red Cross decided to reject the proceeds once it became aware that the event was ‘political in nature’, specifically the promotion of regime change.” [6]

The money laundry projects in MKO have always been active. In January 2010, a disastrous earthquake struck Haiti that paved a new way for MKO to raise their funds . Since MKO agents are more active in Scandinavian countries, their propaganda and fund raising champagnes have a network of front organizations in those countries to lead the group’s tactics. Following the earthquake in Haiti Swedish people were among the top donators to contribute Haiti earthquake victims but the fraudulent groups like MKO were ready to manipulate people’s emotional feelings. Thus, the Swedish government body, Council of funds raised by volunteer charity organization of Sweden (FRII) ( Frivilligorganisationernas Insamlingsråd ) published a list in the country’s media to prevent such organizations misuse people’s donations. MKO was among those untrustworthy-considered organizations: Mojahedin’s Sympathizers Society (MSF),the Promotion of Iranian Culture (FIK) and Association for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran (FDMRI) are the three front groups affiliated to MKO that are listed by Sweden.

On the eve of Christmas Sweden government once more published that warning list to prevent financial abuse committed by those deceitful groups. In the updated list you may find again the name of Mujahedin front groups.[7]

Erik Zachrison from that Swedish Council told about the list:" I don’t know their nationality and they have not managed to present a registered number for their organization. I just know they are active all over Sweden and they do not own the account "ninety" and they have never asked to register for one. They stop people in the streets, showing brochures or pictures and for example ask them if they know Amnesty Intentional and then ask for financial help. A lot of people think they are helping that mentioned international body." [8][Account ninety is a bank account allocated to charity organizations that are lawful in Sweden].

MKO’s nonstop deception campaign was also recognized in Germany. DZI, German General Institute for social issues, warned German nationals in a press release to watch their donations to these three institutes:

Association for people and Freedom (VMF), Association for the hope of future (VHZ), Human Rights Association for migrants that according to DZI are associated with Mujahedin Khalq terrorist organization advertize with street collection campaign, with letters and even home visits for donations by often highly moving and gruesome images of tortured and killed people. DZI declared that it had received a lot of letters of complaint from parties which were visited for personal interviews in their houses and offices. They were requested to donate high, four-digit sums of money to their alleged human right organization. [9] On December 9th, 2010, DZI updates its monitoring report maintaining the name of the three above-mentioned front groups.[10]

Deceptive charity actively is a way to launder money which is often used by terrorists and criminals. Their illegal activity can also include, smuggling trafficking, extortion and corruption. MKO terrorists have to launder the proceeds from their fund raising activities in order to be able to use them to run their propaganda machine and terror campagne. Fighting against corruptive financial activities should be a mission for all governments, especially western countries who are mostly at risk of being manipulated by MKO agents since their true face is known to Iranians but not for them. Western citizens must be informed about peril of transacting with front organizations actually linked to a destructive terrorist cult because the group’s consequent terrorist acts constitute threats to their safety and security.

References:

[1] Iran-interlink, Mojahedin (Rajavi cult) Time Line
http://www.iran-interlink.org/files/child%20pages/Timeline.htm
[2] The Free Library, Charity closed after probe, September2000
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Charity+closed+after+probe.-a065265054
[3| McDERMOTT, TERRY and SARHADDI NELSON, SORAYA, Los Angeles Times, 7 Accused of Raising Funds for Terrorists, March 01, 2001
http://articles.latimes.com/2001/mar/01/news/mn-31811
[4]Los Angeles FBI Office, United States Attorney’s Office, Department of Justice Press Release, Seven Plead Guilty to Providing Material Support to Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, April 28, 2009
http://losangeles.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/la042809a.htm
[5] Kessler, Glenn, Washington Post ,Charity Event May Have Terrorist Link, January 29, 2004
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A58296-2004Jan28?language=printer
[6]ibid
[7] Link to Swedish webpage:
http://www.frii.se/7_varning.shtml
[8] New View Website, Translated by Nejat Society
https://www.nejatngo.org/en/posts/3406
[9] Link to DZI 2009 warning (in German):
http://www.dzi.de/pressemitteilungen/DZI-PM_16Dez2009.pdf
[10] Link to DZI 2010 warning (in German):
http://www.dzi.de/pressemitteilungen/DZI-PM_9Dez2010.pdf

By Mazda Parsi

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