Two brothers United States authorities had convicted for skirting sanctions on Iran by exporting restricted materials back to their home country managed to legally resettle in Canada after their sentencing with new identities.
According to documents obtained by Global News, Iranian brothers Amin and Arash Yousefijam were sentenced for using shell companies to illegally export sensitive manufacturing equipment back to their home country of Iran, while living in Michigan in 2021.
Beginning in 2015, the two brothers and a third conspirator in Iran operated a shell company, Austin General Trading, to conduct what is known as a “cross-stuffing” scheme.
They would purchase and export restricted materials from U.S. manufacturers, hiding that Iran was the real destination of the exports and using banks located in foreign countries.
The contents would first be transported to the United Arab Emirates where they would be moved from their original containers and then illicitly re-shipped to Iran, a ploy referred to as transshipping.
Following their conviction, they returned to Ontario where they had lived previously. Upon arriving, the two applied to have their names changed to Ameen and Aurash Cohen.
A request that was ultimately granted by the Ontario government in April 2022.
According to government records, during the time of their application, both were still serving out the remainder of their sentences, which included a supervised period of one year following their release as well as a form of parole.
Using his new name of Aurash Cohen, Arash Yousefijam became a registered dentist and began working in Ottawa, while his brother Amin gained employment as a compliance officer for an international company in Richmond Hill, Ont.
Amin’s name change certificate was issued by the province despite not being a Canadian citizen and at a time when the Canada Border Services Agency was in the process of deporting.
The two would buy a house in Richmond Hill later that year.
Ontario law requires applicants seeking to change their names to provide details of past criminal convictions and are not permitted to receive new identities for an “improper purpose.”
The CBSA tracked Amin despite his new identity and sent his case to the Immigration and Refugee Board for a deportation order. His hearing will begin at the end of the month.
Arash is a naturalized Canadian citizen, meaning he cannot be deported, he told Global News that the reason the pair changed their identities was to “start a new life.”
“It’s just some legal issues that I had and they got resolved and I’m back,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m a Canadian citizen, I paid my dues, I just got time served, I returned to Canada.”
He went on to say that he saw his brother Amin’s deportation case as unfair, claiming that “it is definitely not fair because I’m not having any consequences but he is.”
However, the CBSA called Amin’s identity change an attempt to undermine Canada’s efforts to protect the citizens from threats posed by the Iranian regime, alleging that as someone with an MBA in banking, he poses “an increased security threat towards Canada in regards to terrorism and attack by nuclear weapons,”wrote the agency in its report.
He had already worked for several banks, including RBC, and has said that he hoped to become a vice-president in the banking industry.
“Mr. Yousefijam’s activities directly compromised the efforts of the Canadian government with respect to its foreign policy goals vis-a-vis Iran,” the CBSA report continued.
Immigration authorities are presently trying to deport over a dozen alleged senior members of the Iranian regime who’ve recently been caught living in Canada.
Referring to Amin, the CBSA said that he “actively participated in a conspiracy utilizing a clandestine procurement and shipping network, whose purpose was to circumvent U.S. sanctions to the benefit of Iran.”
“The purpose of these sanctions is based on national security goals, including being a response to state-sponsored terrorism and human rights abuses, and most notably, to restrict the ability of Iran to develop nuclear weapons,” noted the agency.