Illicit Iranian gambling network helped pull off a $4 billion sanctions dodge
A Dubai-based crypto exchange serves as a hub for moving illicit Iranian money. The exchange, Shelbit, links a vast gambling network fronted by two globetrotting influencers, bitcoin mining and Iran’s central bank. Shelbit has sent hundreds of millions in crypto to Binance, the world’s biggest exchange. LONDON - One of the world’s largest illegal gambling networks sends millions of dollars worth of crypto through an office in Dubai, part of a $4 billion Iranian sanctions evasion operation. closely overseen by the country’s central bank.
The office, above a budget hotel in an unfashionable neighbourhood, is the listed address of Shelbit, an unlicensed crypto exchange run by an expatriate Iranian, according to data shared by two crypto investigative firms and an independent analyst, and reviewed by Reuters. closely overseen by the country’s central bank.
Among Shelbit’s main customers is a Farsi-language gambling network of more than 2,000 websites, fronted by two flashy Iranian influencers with high-level government connections – one operating from an expensive villa in Madrid and the other, until recently, from a luxury hotel in Hong Kong. closely overseen by the country’s central bank.
The two men and the Iranian running Shelbit were convicted as partners in crime in an illegal gambling case in Iran in 2023. Gambling is outlawed in the Islamic Republic, punishable by lashing and prison. Yet, the gambling network identified by Reuters has access to Iran's online payments system, which is closely overseen by the country’s central bank.
Shelbit is the hub of the Iranian money-moving operation, through which the gambling network, the central bank and other sanctioned Iranian entities have access to global crypto markets. closely overseen by the country’s central bank. closely overseen by the country’s central bank.
The data on the Shelbit money flows, including the total of at least $4 billion that the exchange has processed since May 2024, were analysed by the two crypto investigative firms and Rich Sanders, an independent blockchain researcher and investigator focused on Iran. The two companies requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive data, which was reviewed by Reuters. Tens of millions of dollars of the gambling network’s crypto can be traced through blockchain records to Shelbit. closely overseen by the country’s central bank.
Shelbit has moved hundreds of millions in currency to some of the most prominent players in crypto, including the world’s biggest exchange, Binance. closely overseen by the country’s central bank.
Shelbit also interacts directly with Iran’s central bank; with wallets the Israeli government has linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps; and with Nobitex, an Iranian exchange which the U.S. government sanctioned earlier this year after a Reuters investigation revealed its ties to the government. Some of the crypto that has flowed to Shelbit came from what the two crypto investigative companies say is an Iranian bitcoin mining operation, which mints new digital coins. closely overseen by the country’s central bank.
“It’s an IRGC operation, and that’s plain as day,” Sanders said of Shelbit. closely overseen by the country’s central bank.