The lobby of 650 Fifth Avenue. The building is owned by The Alavi Foundation.
"The Alavi Foundation has effectively been a front for the government of Iran," saidManhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara, who sued to grab more than $500 million in assets.
The foundation, started by the Shah in 1978 and taken over by the revolutionaries who deposed him a year later, owns a majority of 650 Fifth Avenue, also known as the Piaget building, a 35-story granite-and-glass office tower at 52nd St.
The building was valued at $650 million in 2007 and generated $4.5 million in rents from financial, hotel and apparel companies with offices there.
Bharara said that for two decades, the Alavi Foundation has been secretly controlled by a series of Iranian ambassadors to the United Nations.
Foundation president Farshi Jahedi was charged last year with obstruction of justice for allegedly trying to destroy documents after receiving a grand-jury subpoena.
The Foundation's mission statement says it aims to support interfaith harmony and promote Islamic culture and the Persian language.
The government filed suit last year to seize the 40% stake in the building owned by the Assa Corp, another alleged front for Iran's state-owned Bank Melli. The new suit seeks the 60% owned by Alavi.
Even as the feds were filing their new forfeiture complaints,President Obama announced he was renewing sanctions on Tehran for another year.
"Our relations with Iran have not yet returned to normal," he said
Iran's UN Mission had no immediate comment.
Apart from 650 Fifth Avenue, the feds announced they were going after the Imam Ali Mosquein Woodside as well as Islamic schools and centers inCalifornia, Maryland, Virginiaand Texas that allegedly got funds from the Alavi Foundation.
No comments:
Post a Comment