Iranian national Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad has been arrested on charges of money laundering, conspiring to defraud the United States, and conspiring to commit bank fraud. He illicitly transferred over $115 million from Venezuela to Iran through the U.S. financial system. Sadr used Stratus Group, an Iranian conglomerate he and his family controlled, and Iranian International Housing Corporation (IIHC), a Tehran-based company he set up, to facilitate the construction of housing units in Venezuela. Sadr incorporated one entity in Switzerland (Clarity Trade and Finance) and one in Turkey (Stratus International Contracting J.S., a.k.a. Stratus Turkey, a.k.a. Straturk) to receive U.S. dollar payments; he then opened bank accounts for both entities in Switzerland to conduct international financial transactions for the benefit of Iranian parties.