The United States imposed sanctions on an India-based network accused of supplying false flags and certificates to ships carrying Iranian oil on Nov. 4, the US Treasury Department said.
The action extended Operation Economic Outcast to maritime registration businesses and a Turkish aviation services company. The department announced the measures in its Nov. 4 statement, “Operation Economic Outcast Targets Global Maritime Fraud Network Supporting Iranian Regime.”
The department accused Suniel Kumar Sharma and his spouse, Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, of building fraudulent ship registries from their base in Chandigarh, India. Their operations supplied documents to Iran’s shadow fleet, ships used to transport oil while evading sanctions, including vessels serving the Iranian military and its proxies, the department said.
The couple’s activities began as early as 2014 with an attempt to impersonate Dominica’s ship registration authority, the department said. Sharma later established Singapore-based Eswatini Maritime Affairs and International Ship Registry in 2023. The company continued registering ships carrying Iranian petroleum despite Eswatini authorities publicly rejecting its authority, the department said.
The network bought internet domains and created websites offering registration, crew certification and vessel inspection services without permission from the governments they said they represented, the department said. Websites linked to the network said they had authority from countries including Guyana, Aruba, Mali, Mozambique and Timor-Leste.
Sharma used Oceaniek Technologies India, where he is managing director, to establish false registries claiming to represent Aruba, Nicaragua and Sint Maarten, the department said. Those registries supplied flags to sanctioned petroleum carriers including LATTAFA, BINARY STAR and VERA. Shahid took over management of parts of the businesses, at least on paper, as scrutiny of Sharma increased, the department said.
The sanctions also covered Aryavart Ship Management Private Limited and Indian nationals Ashwani Kumar Dhiman and Ishwinder Singh, whom the department identified as nominal directors of Sharma’s businesses. Six other India-based entities linked to Shahid were designated: Precept Trends, Polynesia Maritime, Alexarya Finserv, Alexarya Media and Entertainment, Viharaboating, and Aryavart Maritime and Educational Trust.
Separately, the department sanctioned Turkey-based Fugo Ground Services Inc for servicing Iranian airlines already under US sanctions. Its customers included Iran Air Tour, Saha Airlines, Sepehran Airlines, Varesh Airlines, Taban Airlines and Ata Airlines Company. Fugo began serving several of them in the weeks after their Sept. 8 sanctions designations, the department said.
The department also issued an industry alert about sanctions risks from dealing with ships using potentially false flags. It said false registrations and certificates let ships evade rules protecting crews and the environment. Such ships lack valid insurance covering liabilities including pollution damage, the department said.
The measures used Executive Order 13902, which covers Iran’s petroleum and aviation sectors, among others, the department said. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launched Operation Economic Outcast on Aug. 24 to target revenue networks and sanctions evasion supporting Iran.
