Global Financial Crime and Capital Flight

Fox News reports that after the Treasury Department’s Jan. 15 move against Iranian 'shadow banking networks,' Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says U.S. tracking has detected 'millions, tens of millions of dollars' being wired or otherwise moved out of Iran by regime leaders. Bessent characterizes this alleged capital flight as 'rats fleeing the ship' and says the funds are surfacing in banks and financial institutions worldwide, while a report on Israel’s Channel 14 — cited but not independently verified — claims Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba moved about $328 million abroad as part of an estimated $1.5 billion shift. Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies tells Fox the reports, if confirmed, underscore the need for U.S. authorities to aggressively 'monitor, block, freeze and seize' accounts tied to sanctioned figures and notes prior Iranian use of hubs in the UAE, Hong Kong and Singapore. The article also mentions unconfirmed social‑media claims about large Bitcoin transfers and frames the new sanctions as part of a broader Trump administration response to Iran’s deadly protest crackdown. While much of the movement described is still allegation and intelligence‑driven, the story sheds light on how Washington is trying to mesh financial surveillance with its Iran human‑rights and security policy.