Month: September 2024

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Note: View the indictment here. 

Former Federal Aviation Administration contractor, Abouzar Rahmati, 42, a naturalized U.S. citizen and resident of Great Falls, Virginia, was indicted for acting and conspiring to act as an agent of the Iranian government in the United States without prior notice to the Attorney General. He made his initial appearance in the District of Columbia today this afternoon.

According to the indictment, from at least December 2017 through June 2024, Rahmati conspired with Iranian government officials and intelligence operatives to act on their behalf in the United States, including by meeting with Iranian intelligence officers in Iran, communicating with coconspirators using a cover story to hide his conduct, obtaining employment with an FAA contractor with access to sensitive non-public information, and obtaining open-source and non-public materials about the U.S. solar energy industry and providing it to Iranian intelligence.  

“As alleged, the defendant conspired with Iranian officials and intelligence operatives, even lying to obtain employment as a U.S. government contractor only to then share sensitive government materials with Iran,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “When undisclosed agents of Iran or any other foreign government seek to infiltrate American companies or government agencies, the Justice Department will use every available tool to identify them and bring them to justice.”  

“This defendant is charged with infiltrating a U.S. agency with the intent of providing Iran with sensitive information vital to our national security,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “Thanks to the great work of the FBI and the FAA’s investigators, this defendant was stopped in his tracks and a known adversary’s plot was exposed.”

“This indictment describes the reprehensible actions of an individual who allegedly betrayed his country by transferring sensitive U.S. information to a foreign power. This alleged betrayal not only undermines our national security but also puts U.S. jobs and livelihoods at risk,” said Executive Assistant Director Robert Wells of the FBI’s National Security Branch. “We will not tolerate any actions that compromise U.S.-based sensitive information and are committed to ensuring that justice is served swiftly and decisively.”

According to the indictment, from June 2009 to May 2010, Rahmati served as a First Lieutenant in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — an Iranian military and counterintelligence organization under the authority of the Supreme Leader of Iran. After being discharged from the IRGC, Rahmati lied to the United States government regarding his military service with the IRGC in order to, among other things, gain employment as a U.S. government contractor.

In August 2017, Rahmati offered his services to the Iranian government through a senior Iranian government official who previously worked in Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security and with whom Rahmati had previously attended university. Four months later, in December 2017, Rahmati traveled to Iran, where he met with Iranian intelligence operatives and government officials and agreed to obtain information about the U.S. solar energy industry, to provide that information to Iranian officials, and to conduct future communications under a cover story based on purported discussions about research with fellow academics.

After Rahmati returned to the United States in December 2017, he obtained various non-public and open-source materials related to the U.S. solar energy industry and provided them to an Iranian government official. Rahmati also applied for multiple positions with private companies and U.S. government entities that would provide him with access to sensitive information, eventually obtaining a position with U.S. Company 1 supporting the FAA on a contract related to the power and electrical architecture of the FAA’s National Airspace System (NAS). After Rahmati obtained the position, he informed an Iranian intelligence officer that he was “in the process of moving to and joining a new company” and that they could “work more effectively if it is finalized.”

In response to tasking from Iranian officials, and in furtherance of his agency relationship with the Government of Iran, Rahmati exploited his employment with U.S. Company 1 by downloading sensitive non-public U.S. Company 1 documents related to the FAA, storing them on removable media, and taking them to Iran, where he provided the documents to the Government of Iran in April 2022. These included documents related to the NAS that would give a person unfamiliar with NAS facility engineering a reasonable understanding of how the NAS power and electrical architecture is configured.

After he returned to the United States in April 2022, in response to tasking from Iranian government officials, Rahmati sent additional information relating to solar energy, solar panels, the FAA, U.S. airports, and U.S. air traffic control towers to his brother, a co-conspirator, so that he would provide those files to Iranian intelligence on behalf of Rahmati.

The FBI Washington Field Office is investigating the case. FAA’s Office of Counterintelligence and Technical Operations provided significant assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christopher Tortorice and Kimberly Paschall for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorneys Beau Barnes and Alexander Wharton of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia provided significant assistance. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Senior officials from the Justice Department and Department of the Interior yesterday convened a roundtable discussion with Tribal leaders, advocates, members of the media, and federal officials to discuss how media coverage can be channeled to help address the crisis of missing or murdered Indigenous peoples (MMIP) and human trafficking (HT).

The virtual roundtable was organized as part of the federal  response to the recommendations of the Not Invisible Act Commission (NIAC) — a federal advisory committee established in November 2023 under the Not Invisible Act of 2019 to recommend strategies for combating violent crime on Indian lands and against American Indian and Alaska Native people. During seven field hearings across the country as well as a virtual national hearing that informed the Commission’s recommendations, people affected by the crisis of MMIP and HT shared their concerns about lack of media coverage and whether that may contribute to cases being ignored or going unsolved. The Commission in turn recommended the Justice Department and Department of the Interior hold a roundtable discussion as a step toward developing a set of best practices.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland and Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and delivered video remarks.

“Public communication, news stories, and social media can be crucial in finding and investigating cases of missing or murdered Indigenous persons,” said Attorney General Garland. “That is why, on the Not Invisible Act Commission’s recommendation, we convened this roundtable to develop best practices and guidelines to aid law enforcement, families, advocates, and journalists when a member of a Native community is reported missing. It is our hope that this convening will strengthen those partnerships, which are essential to advancing our shared goal of ending this crisis.”

“Since day one, the Biden-Harris administration has been committed to fulfilling our promises to Indian Country,” said Secretary Haaland, who authored the Not Invisible Act while in Congress. “This roundtable is part of that promise as we act on one of the Not Invisible Act Commission’s recommendations because a crisis that exists in silence will never be solved. Today is one step of many to ensure our missing relatives’ stories are told.”

Attorney General Garland also announced that this month, the Justice Department will award more than $210 million to American Indian and Alaska Native communities through three separate programs to support a wide range of public safety challenges. These funds will go directly to efforts to support Tribal safety. They include programs dedicated to reducing domestic violence and sexual violence, supporting victims of crime, and providing resources to law enforcement, Tribal youth programs, and treatment programs.

Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer delivered opening remarks at the roundtable, saying “it is critical now, more than ever,” to work together to draw attention to the MMIP and HT crises. “The potential for immediate, real-time alerts makes media, particularly social media, a powerful tool to get the word out fast when emergencies happen. And the widespread use of media facilitates information sharing and collaboration that can help resolve missing persons cases.”

Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland opened the roundtable and said, “The overarching principle that guides our work is to make life better for people in Tribal communities and making sure that Indian people have the opportunity to live safe, healthy, and fulfilling lives in their tribal communities. Public safety is a big part of this, and addressing the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples crisis and human trafficking are at the forefront of our public safety work.”

In August, Attorney General Garland and Secretary Haaland visited New Mexico to discuss efforts to confront the MMIP crisis and human trafficking with federal and Tribal leaders. Under Attorney General Garland and Secretary Haaland’s leadership, the Biden-Harris Administration has worked to address the high rates of violent crime in Indian Country.  Read more about these efforts.

The Departments plan to publish best practices stemming from this discussion by the end of the year. To submit recommendations, email newsmedia@bia.gov no later than Friday, Oct. 4.

Additional Background on the Departments of Justice and Interior’s commitment to addressing MMIP and HT

Law Enforcement Collaboration: At the 2022 White House Tribal Nations Summit, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and FBI announced an agreement to provide for the effective and efficient administration of criminal investigations in Indian Country. The agreement specified that BIA’s Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS) and the FBI would cooperate on investigations and share information and investigative reports as well as establish written guidelines outlining jurisdiction and investigative roles and responsibilities. The agreement also requires that all BIA, FBI and Tribal law enforcement officers receive training regarding trauma-informed, culturally responsive investigative approaches.

Missing and Murdered Unit (MMU): As one of her first acts as Secretary, Secretary Haaland created a new MMU within BIA-OJS to pursue justice for missing or murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives. The MMU, headquartered in Albuquerque, provides leadership and direction for cross-Departmental and interagency work involving missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives. The MMU has enabled the Interior Department to expand its collaborative efforts with other agencies, such as working to enhance the Justice Department’s National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) and working through strategic partnerships with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Units (BAUs), the FBI Forensic Laboratory, the USMS’ Missing Child Unit (MCU) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC).

MMIP Regional Outreach Program: Since the start of this Administration, the Justice Department has made strides in implementing systems aimed at preventing new instances of MMIP, locating individuals who are reported missing, and, where a crime has occurred, investigating and prosecuting those responsible. In Summer 2023, the Department launched an MMIP Regional Outreach Program. This program places attorneys and coordinators at U.S. Attorneys’ Offices across the United States to help prevent and respond to cases of missing or murdered Indigenous people.

Not Invisible Act Commission: The Departments worked collaboratively to stand up the Not Invisible Act Commission, which was created by legislation the Secretary led in Congress, to develop recommendations on how the federal government can combat crimes against American Indian and Alaska Native people. The Commission included federal, state, and Tribal law enforcement, Tribal leaders, federal partners, service providers, family members of missing and murdered individuals, and survivors. In 2023, the Commission held seven field hearings across the country as well as a virtual national hearing to hear directly from individuals affected by the MMIP crisis. In March, the Departments released their response to the Commission’s recommendations, which they are in the process of implementing in collaboration with Congress.

Operation Not Forgotten: The FBI established this operation to focus resources on seeking justice for Tribal community members who have been victims of unresolved crimes. Operation Not Forgotten first surged resources to Tribal communities in 2023 with the mission of examining cases that have gone unresolved. The goal was to move those cases closer to resolution, provide services for victims, and to bring offenders to justice, who had so far escaped it. Due to the success of the 2023 operation, the FBI is currently partnering with the BIA-MMU to surge resources in 2024. BIA-MMU is providing significant intelligence and investigative support for the duration of the operation. Over 45 special agents and five intelligence personnel have deployed in support of the 2024 operation.

White House Council on Native American Affairs: At the 2021 White House Tribal Nations Summit, President Biden signed Executive Order 14053 on Improving Public Safety and Criminal Justice for Native Americans and Addressing the Crisis of Missing or Murdered Indigenous People directing the Departments of Justice, the Interior, and Health and Human Services to work with Tribal Nations and partners to build safe and healthy Tribal communities and to support comprehensive law enforcement, prevention, intervention and support services. President Biden signed the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 into law, which built on advancements from previous reauthorizations and included new provisions to address the crisis of MMIP across the country and re-enforced Tribal sovereignty by providing means for Tribes to address the epidemic of violence within their lands and communities. The White House Council on Native American Affairs is continuing to implement this work through its Public Safety and Justice committee, which is co-chaired by the Departments of Justice and the Interior, as part of an all of government approach to address public safety and the MMIP crisis.

International Collaboration: The United States is also working with its international counterparts from Canada and Mexico to address public safety issues on a larger scale. In September 2023, Canada chaired the Fifth Convening of the Trilateral Working Group on Violence against Indigenous Women and Girls in collaboration with Indigenous leaders and government officials from Canada, the United States and Mexico and global subject-matter experts. Discussions at this year’s convening focused on human trafficking and access to justice. Officials from the three countries agreed to continue to protect and uphold the rights of Indigenous women, learn from and implement Indigenous-led approaches, provide accessible and culturally safe services, and support the preservation of Indigenous cultures and languages. A sixth gathering is expected later this year.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

A California man was charged today in a federal criminal complaint alleging he committed a bomb attack at a courthouse in Santa Maria, California, on Wednesday, in which at least five people were injured.

Nathaniel James McGuire, 20, of Santa Maria, is charged with maliciously damaging a building by means of explosive.

McGuire, who was arrested Wednesday shortly after the attack, is expected to make his initial appearance today in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

“This defendant will now face justice in federal court for his alleged attack that injured at least five people and struck fear across a county courthouse and an entire community,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “Attacks on our public institutions and on public servants threaten the safety of our communities and the rule of law itself. Such attacks will not be tolerated by the Justice Department.”

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, on Sept. 25, McGuire entered a courthouse of Santa Barbara County Superior Court and threw a bag into the lobby. The bag exploded and McGuire left the courthouse on foot. The explosion injured at least five people who were present at the courthouse at that time.

Shortly thereafter, McGuire was apprehended and detained by law enforcement officials as he was trying to access a red Ford Mustang car parked outside the building. McGuire allegedly yelled that the government had taken his guns and that everyone needed to fight, rise up, and rebel.

Inside the car, a deputy saw ammunition, a flare gun, and a box of fireworks. A search of the car revealed a shotgun, a rifle, more ammunition, a suspected bomb, and 10 Molotov cocktails. Law enforcement later rendered the bomb safe.

A search of McGuire’s residence revealed an empty can with nails glued to the outside, a duffel bag containing matches, black powder, used and unused fireworks, and papers that appeared to be recipes for explosive material.

“This defendant’s alleged misconduct was chilling,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for Central District of California. “Not only did he injure five people and traumatize many more, but he possessed a cache of weapons that would have allowed him to wreak even greater destruction had he not been stopped. Attacks on our courts, law enforcement officers, and other public servants are unacceptable, and it is critical that those who carry out such assaults be prosecuted to the fullest extent.”

“The idea of intentionally setting off an explosive device to do harm and avoid justice in the process shocks the conscience,” said Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office. “Make no mistake, we are committed to holding McGuire accountable for this blatant act of violence. As always, we encourage the public to remain vigilant and to promptly report suspicious activities which could represent a threat to public safety.”

“This was a shocking and unprecedented crime in our county, but, in spite of its audacity, the security of the Santa Maria courthouse was maintained,” said Sheriff Bill Brown of Santa Barbara County. “The suspect was swiftly apprehended by a court security officer, a sheriff’s deputy, two California Highway Patrol officers, and a district attorney’s investigator; we are proud of their resolute actions that almost certainly prevented further violence. We are also grateful for the substantial investigative assistance that has been provided by our colleagues with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and from U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada and his office.”

If convicted, McGuire faces a mandatory minimum penalty of seven years in prison and a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI and Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark Takla and Kathrynne N. Seiden for the Central District of California are prosecuting this case with substantial assistance from Trial Attorney Patrick Cashman of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

A complaint is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a permanent injunction today against Fort Lauderdale, Florida, tax return preparer Dexter Bataille, individually and doing business as Capital Financial Group Holdings LLC. The court ordered the closure of Bataille’s business, Capital Financial Holdings LLC, and barred him from preparing or assisting in preparing federal income tax returns or transferring his customer lists. The court also ordered Bataille to pay $134,400 in ill-gotten gains he received from his return preparation business. Bataille agreed to both the injunction and the order to pay $134,400.

The complaint alleged that Bataille prepared customers’ returns that fraudulently claimed various false or inflated deductions and credits, including fabricated, false and exaggerated profits and expenses to generate inflated business losses; misreported filing statuses and dependent claims; and false reports of household help income.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General David A. Hubbert of the Justice Department’s Tax Division made the announcement.

Taxpayers seeking a return preparer should remain vigilant against unscrupulous tax preparers. The IRS has information on its website for choosing a tax return preparer and has launched a free directory of federal tax preparers. The IRS warns taxpayers to avoid “ghost preparers” and lists other improper acts that tax preparers engage in to take advantage of their unsuspecting customers.

In the past decade, the Justice Department’s Tax Division has obtained injunctions against hundreds of unscrupulous tax preparers. Information about these cases is available on the Justice Department’s website. An alphabetical listing of persons enjoined from preparing returns and promoting tax schemes can be found on this page. If you believe that one of the enjoined persons or businesses may be violating an injunction, please contact the Tax Division with details.

Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division

Note: View the indictment here and the FBI Wanted Poster here.

The Justice Department today announced the unsealing of an indictment charging Iranian nationals, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) employees, Masoud Jalili, 36,  also known as, مسعود جلیلی, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri, 34, also known as, سید علی آقامیری, and Yaser Balaghi, 37, also known as, یاسر بلاغی (the Conspirators), with a conspiracy with others known and unknown to hack into accounts of current and former U.S. officials, members of the media, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals associated with U.S. political campaigns. The activity was part of Iran’s continuing efforts to stoke discord, erode confidence in the U.S. electoral process, and unlawfully acquire information relating to current and former U.S. officials that could be used to advance the malign activities of the IRGC, including ongoing efforts to avenge the death of Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of the IRGC – Qods Force (IRGC-QF).

As alleged, in or around May, after several years of focusing on compromising the accounts of former U.S. government officials, the conspirators used some of the same hacking infrastructure from earlier in the conspiracy to begin targeting and successfully gaining unauthorized access to personal accounts belonging to persons associated with an identified U.S. Presidential campaign (U.S. Presidential Campaign 1), including campaign officials. The conspirators used their access to those accounts to steal, among other information, non-public campaign documents and emails (campaign material). The activity broadened in late June, when the conspirators engaged in a “hack-and-leak” operation, in which they sought to weaponize campaign material stolen from U.S. Presidential Campaign 1 by leaking such materials to members of the media and individuals associated with what was then another identified U.S. Presidential campaign (U.S. Presidential Campaign 2), in a deliberate effort to, as reflected in the conspirators’ own words and actions, undermine U.S. Presidential Campaign 1 in advance of the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

“The Justice Department is working relentlessly to uncover and counter Iran’s cyberattacks aimed at stoking discord, undermining confidence in our democratic institutions, and influencing our elections,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “The American people – not Iran, or any other foreign power – will decide the outcome of our country’s elections.”

“Today’s charges represent the culmination of a thorough and long-running FBI investigation that has resulted in the indictment of three Iranian nationals for their roles in a wide-ranging hacking campaign sponsored by the Government of Iran,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The conduct laid out in the indictment is just the latest example of Iran’s brazen behavior. So today the FBI would like to send a message to the Government of Iran – you and your hackers can’t hide behind your keyboards.”

“These hack-and-leak efforts by Iran are a direct assault on the integrity of our democratic processes,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division. “Iranian government actors have long sought to use cyber-enabled means to harm U.S. interests. This case demonstrates our commitment to expose attempts by the Iranian regime or any other foreign actor to interfere with our free and open society.”

“This indictment alleges a serious and sustained effort by a state-sponsored terrorist organization to gather intelligence through hacking personal accounts so they can use the hacked materials to harm Americans and corruptly influence our election,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves for the District of Columbia. “The detailed allegations in the indictment should make clear to anyone who might attempt to do the same that the Justice Department has the ability to gather evidence of such crimes from around the globe, will charge those who commit such crimes, and will do whatever we can to bring those charged to justice.”

As alleged in the indictment, beginning in or around January 2020, Jalili, Aghamiri, and Balaghi, working on behalf of the IRGC, commenced a wide-ranging hacking campaign that used spearphishing and social engineering techniques to target and compromise victims computers and accounts. Among the conspirators’ techniques were: using virtual private networks and virtual private servers to obscure their true location; creating fraudulent email accounts in the names of prominent U.S. persons and international institutions; creating spoofed login pages to harvest account credentials; sending spearphishing emails using compromised victim accounts; and using social engineering to obtain victims’ login information and multi-factor recovery/authentication codes. Some of the conspirators’ efforts were successful, while others were not.

In April 2019, the Department of State designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization. Among the purposes of the conspiracy were for the conspirators to: (i) steal victims’ data, such as information related to U.S. government and foreign policy information concerning the Middle East; (ii) steal information relating to current and former U.S. officials that could be used to advance the IRGC’s malign activities; (iii) disrupt U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East; (iv) stoke discord and erode confidence in the U.S. electoral process; (v) steal personal and private information from persons who had access to information relating to U.S. Presidential Campaign 1, including non-public campaign material and information; and (vi) undermine U.S. Presidential Campaign 1 in advance of the 2024 U.S. presidential election by leaking stolen campaign material and information.

As reflected in the Sept. 18 joint statement released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, FBI, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency: “Iranian malicious cyber actors in late June and early July sent unsolicited emails to individuals then associated with President Biden’s campaign that contained an excerpt taken from stolen, non-public material from former Trump’s campaign as text in the emails. There is currently no information indicating those recipients replied. Furthermore, Iranian malicious cyber actors have continued their efforts since June to send stolen, non-public material associated with former President Trump’s campaign to U.S. media organizations.”

As alleged in further detail in the indictment, the conspirators’ hack-and-leak efforts involved the conspirators emailing stolen campaign material to individuals that the conspirators believed were associated with what was then U.S. Presidential Campaign 2 and members of the media.

First, between on or about June 27 and July 3, the conspirators sent or forwarded an unsolicited email message to personal accounts of three persons that the conspirators believed were associated with U.S. Presidential Campaign 2. The June 27 email was sent to two recipients, and then forwarded the same day to another account for one of those recipients (due to the earlier email being sent to an invalid account for that recipient). This email chain contained campaign material stolen from an official for U.S. Presidential Campaign 1 (U.S. Victim 11). Neither of the recipients replied to the conspirators’ email. In addition, the conspirators sent a follow up email on July 3rd to a third recipient’s account, and the recipient similarly did not reply to the Conspirators.

Second, between on or about July 22 and on or about Aug. 31, the conspirators distributed other campaign material stolen from U.S. Victim 11 regarding U.S. Presidential Campaign 1’s potential vice-presidential candidates to multiple members of the news media, in an attempt to induce the news media to publish the material. In one instance, for example, the conspirators’ message stated “I think this information is worth a good [U.S. news publication] piece with your narration. Let me know your thoughts.”

As alleged, these defendants also sought to promote the IRGC’s goals and mission by compromising and maintaining unauthorized access to the email accounts of a number of former government officials, including U.S. Victim 1, who had served in a position with responsibility over U.S. Middle East policy at the time of Qasam Soleimani’s death. Using this access, the defendants obtained information to assist the IRGC’s efforts to target U.S. Victim 1 and others, including their means of identification, correspondence, travel information, lodging information and other information regarding their whereabouts and policy positions.   

Jalili, Aghamiri, and Balaghi are charged with: conspiracy to commit identity theft, aggravated identity theft, access device fraud, unauthorized access to computers to obtain information from a protected computer, unauthorized access to computers to defraud and obtain a thing of value, and wire fraud, all while knowingly falsely registering domain names, which carries a maximum penalty of 12 years in prison; conspiracy to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison; eight counts of wire fraud while falsely registering domain names, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 27 years in prison; and eight counts of aggravated identity theft, each of which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of two years in prison. If convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Concurrent with today’s announcement, the Department of State, through the Rewards for Justice Program, issued a reward of up to $10 million for information on Jalili, Aghamiri, and Balaghi, the IRGC’s interference in U.S. elections, or associated individuals and entities. Also, concurrent with today’s announcement, the Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13694, as amended, and E.O. 13848 designated Jalili for being responsible for or complicit in, or having engaged in, directly or indirectly, a cyber-enabled activity originating from, or directed by persons located, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States that is reasonably likely to result in, or has materially contributed to, a significant threat to the national security, foreign policy, or economic health or financial stability of the United States and that has the purpose or effect of causing a significant misappropriation of funds or economic resources, trade secrets, personal identifiers, or financial information for commercial or competitive advantage or private financial gain.

The FBI Washington Field Office is investigating this case. The FBI Cyber Division and Springfield and Minneapolis Field Offices provided substantial assistance in this matter. For more information on threat activity as well as mitigation guidance, the FBI has released a Joint Cyber Security Advisory titled “Iranian Cyber Actors Targeting Personal Accounts to Support Operations.”

The Justice Department would like to thank the following private sector partners for their assistance with this case: Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Meta.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tejpal Chawla and Christopher Tortorice for the District of Columbia and Trial Attorney Greg Nicosia of the National Security Division’s National Security Cyber Section are prosecuting the case, with significant assistance from Paralegal Specialists Mariela Andrade and Kate Abrey. Joshua Champagne of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section also provided valuable assistance.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.