TLDR
- Top-ranking IRGC intelligence agents were accused of pocketing $21 million in cryptocurrencies during their investigation into the workings of Cryptoland.
- Mehdi Hajipour and Mehdi Badi stand accused of turning seized BRG tokens into personal wealth by selling them for their own gain.
- In just a four-month period, Hajipour's financial worth skyrocketed from a modest $40,000 to an astounding $14.2 million.
- Sina Estavi, the CEO of Cryptoland, received a 15-year sentence but managed to escape the country under the radar.
- While half of the affected 51,000 investors have been reimbursed, there are still 25,000 individuals waiting for compensation.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran is mired in controversy as documents unveil that top figures embezzled about $21 million in cryptocurrency while faking a fraud investigation, with the focus being on the now-defunct digital platform, Cryptoland.
In May 2021, the house of cards started to fall as Cryptoland's CEO, Sina Estavi, was apprehended on charges of undermining the economic system. At the time, no formal accusations were leveled against him, yet news of his arrest initiated a wave of investor grievances.
Blockchain analysis reveals that a mere day post-arrest of Estavi, six billion BRG tokens made an exit from his digital wallet, prior to any public disclosure of the matter. IRGC officials later cashed these tokens in for a hefty sum.
Legal papers highlight the pivotal roles of two participants: Mehdi Hajipour and Mehdi Badi were entrenched in the IRGC's economic intelligence division. An audit confirmed that Hajipour-directed wallets handled and offloaded more than $21 million in BRG tokens.
Hajipour's wealth transitioned rapidly. A mere $40,000 estimate burgeoned into a whopping $14.2 million in just four months, marking an explosive financial leap.
Newly gained riches were channelled by Hajipour into luxury items: gold, upscale properties, and luxury cars. These purchases became key inquiry points due to their abrupt nature.
Scheme Unravels
In a covert mission in March 2022, Hajipour was outwitted by IRGC counterintelligence. He was nabbed accepting a $10,000 payment allegedly to return hijacked tokens, with the supposed buyer being none other than Estavi.
Hajipour was interned in Ward 66 after his capture, a specialized IRGC holding facility. His plea was rejected in September 2022. Missing from the records are the complete sentences for all related individuals.
The secondary suspect, Mehdi Badi, known by the alias 'Dr. Ebadi,' has been tagged in various IRGC's economic misconduct scandals. Notably, he is reportedly aligned with Ali Akbar Hosseini Mehrab, a senior IRGC figure.
Court files hint at involvement from two other IRGC interrogators: Majid Jahan Parto and Majid Tabatabaei. An additional four accomplices fortified the operation through the creation of counterfeit documents.
Shortly after Hajipour was apprehended, a shift occurred in IRGC's intelligence leadership. Hossein Taeb was relieved from his duties, with Mohammad Kazemi stepping in, hinting at ramifications from the scandal.
Estavi's judgment included 15 years of imprisonment, corporal punishment, fines, and lifelong public service exclusion. He was mandated to return the misappropriated funds but evaded this by fleeing the country; later emerging in France.
According to Mizan news, owned by Iran's Judiciary, over 51,000 complainants lined up against Cryptoland. About half received compensation amounting to $14 million from Estavi’s holdings during his incarceration.
Still, around 25,000 investors anxiously await recompense, tied to money unreturned by Hajipour, Badi, and their circle. With the main culprits detained and the CEO vanished, their prospects remain dim.
Estavi garnered global recognition when he acquired Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey’s initial tweet as an NFT, dropping $2.9 million. The buzz around Cryptoland was amplified due to this high-profile acquisition.
This story is a piece of a larger trend of crypto-malfeasance involving Iranian figures. Earlier in March 2025, the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed sanctions on Behrouz Parsarad for running a darknet market tied to $30 million in illegal crypto-based narcotics trading.
