June 18 (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating how Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei built a global investment portfolio with exposure to Wall Street banks, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing officials familiar with the matter.
The probe is part of a broader examination into allegations of money laundering and corruption, and includes scrutiny of transactions involving firms overseen by Khamenei, according to the report.
Investigators are reviewing the role of U.S. banks in those transactions, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The report said that the banks under review include JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.
JPMorgan and the DOJ did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comments, while Citigroup declined to comment.
The investigation does not necessarily mean charges will be filed, the Bloomberg News report said, adding that the primary focus of the probe was Khamenei.
Khamenei was chosen as Iran’s supreme leader after his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike. The supreme leader has the final say on matters of state, including foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear program.
(Reporting by Prakhar Srivastava in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
