US Treasury Sanctions Behrouz Parsarad, Operator of Now-Defunct Nemesis Darknet Marketplace

The US Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on Behrouz Parsarad, an Iranian national accused of managing the now-defunct Nemesis darknet marketplace.

The US Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on Behrouz Parsarad, an Iranian national accused of managing the now-defunct Nemesis darknet marketplace.

As part of the action, authorities have also blacklisted 49 Bitcoin (BTC) and Monero (XMR) addresses linked to him.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the sanctions on March 4, adding that the move follows an international operation to dismantle Nemesis earlier in 2024.

The sanction against Parsarad is part of OFAC’s broader efforts to dismantle illicit online marketplaces. Notably, the agency previously sanctioned Hydra Market in April 2022, with German authorities later confiscating approximately €23 million (about $25 million) worth of Bitcoin (BTC) from the platform.

Earlier in 2024, British police announced the shutdown of Nemesis and the arrest of its administrator. The platform was used by a wide range of criminals, from drug traffickers to cybercriminals, to sell their wares and services.

According to OFAC, Parsarad profited from Nemesis by charging users transaction fees, and is said to have personally amassed millions from the marketplace over its lifespan.

The report adds that Nemesis was a hub for cybercriminals and drug traffickers to sell their wares and services. It is said that the platform’s stipendium had built-in money laundering features to allow users to conceal their financial activities.

In total, authorities estimate that between 2021 and 2024, Nemesis facilitated over $30 million in drug sales. The marketplace also sold a range of other illegal services, including forged identification documents and professional hacking services. Users could also hire hackers to compromise online accounts and steal sensitive data.

Despite Nemesis’ shutdown, reports suggest that Parsarad has already begun discussing launching a new darknet marketplace with vendors at an earlier stage of the crackdown.

Parasad’s on-chain activity

A recent blockchain investigation by Chainalysis revealed that Parsarad funnelled over $12,000 to other known darknet marketplaces, including ASAP, Incognito and Next Generation.

The crypto analytics firm also noted that his Bitcoin wallets received more than $850,000 from addresses linked to illicit transactions.

Meanwhile, on-chain records from blockchain analytics firm BeHaViR show that he moved over $1.6 million in crypto, with analysts suggesting that he might have been leveraging Bitcoin’s price fluctuations to grow his bitcoin holdings.

Chainalysis furthered that Parsarad had no direct on-chain links to Iranian financial services but had significant exposure to darknet marketplaces and indirect connections to crypto mixers.

According to the firm, the Iranian national deliberately obscured his illicit activities to avoid detection. This is because Iran enforces strict penalties for drug-related offenses, which can even reach the death penalty in extreme cases.