An Iranian banker sanctioned by Britain for allegedly helping finance the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) owns a luxury villa in Marbella through the Spanish subsidiary of a UK company, according to new reporting by OCCRP. 

Ali Ansari, who was sanctioned by the UK last year, controls London-based Veritas Reales Investment Limited through a Cypriot passport and is listed by Companies House as the firm’s sole person with significant control, the investigative news organization said. Spanish business registry records show the company controls Veritas Reales Marbella SL, which owns the villa and land in Marbella’s gated Altos Reales community, according to OCCRP.

Ansari’s lawyer, Roger Gherson, told the news outlet that his client “vehemently denies any financial relationship” with the IRGC. In a March 12 public statement cited by OCCRP, Ansari said he was being unfairly targeted without credible evidence and had instructed his lawyers to begin formal proceedings against the UK sanctions.

British authorities allege Ansari funds the IRGC, one of Iran’s most powerful military organizations, but OCCRP said the sanctions notice did not provide supporting details. U.K. authorities have frozen more than £100 million of Ansari’s real estate in Britain.

The Marbella property was acquired in 2020 for an undisclosed sum, OCCRP said. An archived local real estate listing reviewed by the news outlet showed the villa had been marketed in 2013 for €15 million as a 6-bedroom residence with sea views, wine cellars, and staff quarters.

Veritas Reales Investment’s annual filings to Companies House are overdue and that the company faces possible compulsory dissolution within two months unless cause is shown otherwise, according to the report. 

Read more at OCCRP