WikIran is exposing yet another top tier Iranian exchange house, which is a part of the "shadow banking" infrastructure. Amin exchange house, also known as Ebrahimi and Associates Guarantee Society, is one of the leading exchange houses in Iran. It is located in the Northwestern city of Tabriz, the capital of the East Azerbaijan province.
On paper, it is a public money exchange business, but like other exchange houses that were exposed by WikIran before, Amin is part of the Iranian "shadow banking" system, a term that was coined by the American Treasury, which is assisting the Islamic Republic in circumventing sanctions using a clandestine network of front companies around the world.
For example, at least four Chinese front companies were used both by Amin exchange and PGPICC (Persian Gulf Petrochemical Commercial Company), the globally- sanctioned Iranian petrochemical exporter that was also recently exposed by WikIran, whose parent company is financially supporting the IRGC.
Amin Exchange's CEO is ex-IRGC officer named Samad Nemati. Nemati served in an administrative position in the IRGC until 2009 and was discharged as a lieutenant.
Before being appointed as CEO, Nemati was Amin's head of accounting between 2010 and 2015, and the former CEO of another exchange house, Shahram Ebrahimi.
One of the owners and board members of Amin exchange house is Youssef Ebrahimi. Ebrahimi is also the vice chairman of the board of directors of Azar Folad Amin Industries Co., also known as AFA, which is Amin exchange house's parent company. The chairman of the board of AFA is no other than Youssef's brother, Mahmoud. AFA is a private company also registered in Tabriz, which owns several subsidiaries in the fields of steel, agriculture and shipping, in addition to the exchange house.