[ad_1]
Federal investigators say an Iranian government agent used an encrypted messaging app to try and commit contract killings in the US. On Monday, the Justice Department charged 49-year-old Iranian agent Naji Sharifi-Zindashti and two Canadians in the “murder-for-hire” plot, which targeted two US residents in Maryland, one of whom was an Iranian defector. Allegedly, Sharifi-Zindashti tried to organize the contract killings through Sky ECC, an encrypted messaging app popular with organized criminals. As many as 70,000 Sky ECC devices were used worldwide, but in 2021, international law enforcement dismantled the network, which likely led federal investigators to uncover Sharifi-Zindashti’s conspiracy to commit the killings. According to the indictment, Sharifi-Zindashti used Sky ECC to communicate with one of the charged Canadians, 43-year-old Damion Patrick John Ryan, who is allegedly a member of the outlaw motorcycle club Hells Angels. Around January 2021, the two began chatting about a potential job in Maryland. Ryan then contacted another Canadian, 29-year-old Adam Richard Pearson, for his assistance with the contract killing. According to recovered messages from Sky ECC, Pearson initially demanded $100,000 for the assassination while promising that the targets would be shot in the back of the head. The group then later agreed on a $350,000 payment, along with $20,000 for travel expenses, to launch the contract killing using a “4-man team.”The Justice Department now says it was able to foil the plot while identifying the conspirators behind it. “Today’s charges show a pattern of Iranian groups trying to murder US residents on US soil,” said the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division Assistant Director Suzanne Turner.
Recommended by Our Editors
Although Sharifi-Zindashti is still at-large in Iran, federal officials say both Ryan and Pearson “are currently incarcerated in Canada on unrelated offenses.” In lieu of his arrest, the US Treasury Department has sanctioned Sharifi-Zindashti and his associates in Iran for allegedly trying to commit the contract killing. According to the US, Sharifi-Zindashti is a drug trafficker who also works for Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security to hunt down government dissidents. This has included assassinating a “former Iranian cybersecurity official turned regime critic” to kidnapping an opposition leader. The sanctions against Sharifi-Zindashti now mean all US persons and businesses are barred from working with him.
Like What You’re Reading?
Sign up for SecurityWatch newsletter for our top privacy and security stories delivered right to your inbox.
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
[ad_2]
