Iranian businessman Seyed Sajjad Shahidian was sentenced to 23 months in prison for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. A U.S. district court in Minneapolis sentenced the 33-year-old to time served. Shahidian used a company that he founded and led, Payment24, to circumvent U.S. sanctions between 2009 and 2018. Payment24 relied on fake passports and other forged documents to register accounts with Payoneer and PayPal and process millions of dollars in transactions. Shahidian also flouted trade restrictions on Iran by falsifying the destination of U.S.-origin goods. British authorities arrested Shahidian in London in November 2018, and extradited him to the United States in May 2020. He pleaded guilty on June 18, 2020.