U.S. Treasury Designates A7 Network as a Significant Transnational Criminal Organization

Odaily Planet Daily reports that on Oct. 1, the U.S. Department of the Treasury said it has taken sanctions-related action against A7 Network, designating it a "significant transnational criminal organization." The Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said it plans to bar fund transfers involving A7 Network's subagents and will require financial institutions to identify and report suspicious activity tied to the network. Treasury described A7 Network as a Russia-linked "shadow banking network" that Iran has used to bypass sanctions, allegedly masking sanctioned or illicit flows as legitimate trade. The department said this has been done through third-party companies, falsified trade documentation, fabricated import-export records, and misleading product descriptions. According to U.S. investigations, A7 Network subagents processed more than $17 billion in transactions from January 2025 through June 2026. A7 Network has said that as of January 2026 it handles over 2,000 transactions per day, with cumulative volume exceeding 7.5 trillion rubles, or about $91.5 billion. Treasury said the network has been used by entities including Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to move funds tied to activities such as Iranian oil sales and weapons procurement. One subagent was also reported to have transacted with entities connected to Iran's "shadow fleet." The department further alleged ties between A7 Network and the Iranian digital asset trading platform Nobitex, and said the network helped move funds linked to North Korean cyberattacks on cryptocurrency exchanges. The announcement also referenced A7A5 Token, a ruble-backed token issued by Old Vector LLC. Treasury said A7 Network used the token to evade sanctions and to allow sanctioned infrastructure providers to profit from token circulation.