Assa Corp., the part-owner of a 36-story Manhattan office building, acted as a front for Iran in violating the U.S. embargo against that country and federal money-laundering laws, a judge said in the government's suit to seize Assa's property, Bloomberg reported.
U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest in Manhattan today ruled against Assa before trial, saying that the company acted as a front for Bank Melli, Iran's national bank.
"The court has found that, based on the incontrovertible record evidence, Assa was (and is) a front for Bank Melli, and thus a front for the government of Iran," Forrest said.
The U.S. sued Assa, based in the U.K.'s Channel Islands, and the Alavi Foundation, a successor to a foundation set up by Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, who was overthrown as Iran's leader in 1979.
The Manhattan office building was constructed by the Pahlavi Foundation, a nonprofit group set up by the Shah.