- US Department of Justice charges an Iranian operative for hiring Hells Angels bikers to carry out assassinations in the US.
- Naji Sharifi Zindashti, the Iranian agent, allegedly used encrypted messaging to recruit agents for the requested killings.
- Zindashti hired Hells Angels members to carry out an assassination for $350,000, targeting Iranian defectors and activists in Maryland. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets and the United Kingdom also took action against Zindashti and his network, accusing them of transnational repression.
Additional Coverage:
- DOJ charged an Iranian operative with hiring Hells Angels bikers for assassinations in the US (businessinsider.com)
An Iranian operative has been charged by the US Department of Justice (DOJ) for allegedly hiring members of the Hells Angels biker group to carry out assassinations in the United States. According to the DOJ, the suspects conspired to hire Hells Angels members to murder two individuals in Maryland, including an Iranian defector. The Iranian agent, Naji Sharifi Zindashti, is accused of using encrypted messaging to recruit agents for the killings. Two Canadian nationals identified as Hells Angels members, Damion Patrick John Ryan and Adam Richard Pearson, are also involved in the conspiracy.
The charges against Zindashti and his alleged accomplices were unsealed by the DOJ on Monday. The indictment alleges that the three defendants conspired between December 2020 and March 2021. Zindashti, who has ties to Iran’s spy agency, is accused of using his network to target Iranian dissidents and activists. US Attorney Andrew Luger for the District of Minnesota praised the efforts of federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents in disrupting the murder-for-hire conspiracy.
The DOJ’s indictment reveals that Zindashti hired the Hells Angels bikers to carry out the assassination in January 2021. According to the department’s press release, Pearson suggested that shooting the victims would be the easiest method and expressed willingness to carry out the act. Ryan recommended having two individuals equipped with proper gear. Pearson indicated that he would instruct the recruits to shoot the victim multiple times in the head to make an example, adding that they needed to “erase his head from his torso.”
The DOJ alleges that Zindashti and Ryan agreed on a $350,000 payment for the assassination, with an additional $20,000 to cover expenses for the four-man team involved. All three defendants are charged with conspiracy to use interstate commerce facilities in the commission of murder-for-hire. Pearson also faces charges of firearm possession as a fugitive from justice and as a non-US citizen unlawfully in the country.
In conjunction with the charges, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets and the United Kingdom took action against Zindashti and his network. Zindashti, identified as an Iranian narcotics trafficker residing in Iran, operates his network on behalf of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, according to a joint statement. The statement further states that Zindashti’s network has carried out various acts of transnational repression, including assassinations and kidnappings, and has plotted operations in the United States.
Read the original article on Business Insider.