Illicit Iranian gambling network helped pull off a $4 billion sanctions dodge

REUTERS — 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 operation to evade sanctions.The office, above a budget hotel in an unfashionable neighborhood, 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.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.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.…

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