A Toronto man accused by Canada’s intelligence service of helping Iran evade international sanctions has filed a court case against the government for denying him citizenship.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service is charged Alireza Onghai “participated in foreign-influenced activities … that are detrimental to the interests of Canada and are covert or deceptive.”
But Onghei, 46, an Iranian national who owns a home in Vaughan, Ont., claimed in an application in federal court that he had suffered “unreasonable” delays in his quest to become a Canadian citizen.
In the case filed in Montreal on 16 November, Onghei asked the court to order the government to “make a decision with respect to the citizenship application”.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada would not comment.
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Onghei’s lawyer also declined to comment. But when reached by phone, Onghei called the allegations against him “f–king bulls-t.”
He refused to admit to CSIS that he had transferred millions of people to Canada for the Iranian regime, and accused the Canadian government of building up a case against him to show that it was taking action against Iran. Used to be.
The government did this to “try to get more votes from immigrants”, he said. He said the fact that he had initiated the case against the government showed that he was innocent.
“It’s logic,” he said.
Alireza Onghaei holds citizenship of Iran and Saint-Kitts and Nevis, and is seeking Canadian citizenship.
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Onghei has filed the fifth court case against Canada since arriving in the country in 2008 as an expatriate investor and opening a series of currency exchange businesses in Ontario and B.C.
Already a citizen of both Iran and the Caribbean island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis, he was denied Canadian citizenship in 2018 but appealed.
The CSIS Security Investigations Branch interviewed Onghei in 2019 and wrote in its report that he had admitted to “assisting the government of Iran in the covert wiring of funds into Canada”.
According to the report, Onghei “admitted that he owned a private exchange company that would transfer funds from Bank Sadret and other Iranian financial actors to Canada.”
Bank Sadrat is an Iranian state bank approved by canada CSIS wrote in the report, which was filed in court and used to “channel funds to terrorist organizations”.
CSIS estimates that he went “in the millions”.
“For added clarity, Mr. Onghei said that he is aware that the process of circumventing economic sanctions is clearly illegal. Nevertheless, Mr. Onghei admitted to conducting such activities for at least three years,” CSIS wrote.
According to the report, “On a separate note, Mr. Onghei said he would ‘happily’ work for a foreign intelligence service, particularly one from Iran, if he benefited from such a relationship.”
Onghai has not been charged with the allegations.
“They have nothing, man,” he said.
He said that CSIS would not allow him to record his two-day security screening interview “because they knew they wanted to lie to the public, they knew they wanted to report by bull-t.”
“I never accepted, I never worked with the Iranian f–king government.”
He said the government has delayed his citizenship application by nine years. “I have the right to file a court case against him again, that’s all.”
Page from the CSIS security screening report on Alireza Ongai.
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One international organization One that is attempting to identify members and affiliates of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in Canada and the United States says more than half of those exposed so far have already acquired citizenship.
Ram Zoubin said, “The current legal regime in Canada does not address such matters at all, focusing on a limited number of restrictions and targeting individuals without status in Canada (preventing them from entry or withholding their citizenship) “
“It does not address the security risk that such individuals pose because of their past association with dictatorships in Iran and its various sub-branches,” said Zoubin, a BC lawyer involved in the Stop IRGC group.
stewart.bell@globalnews.ca
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