PORTLAND, ORE. -- A Texas couple and an alleged co-conspirator in Iran face money laundering and other charges after authorities say they used a Portland-based children's charity to funnel money to Iran.
The indictment accuses Najmeh Vahid and Dr. Hossein Lahiji of getting $1.8 million in tax exemptions over nine years for their donations to the Portland-based Child Foundation charity.
The head of the charity, Mehrdad Yasrebi, allegedly funneled money that was meant for food and other assistance to his cousin and to a bank controlled by the Iranian government.
Yasrebi wasn't charged in Thursday's indictment.
Prosecutors allege the Iranian cousin, Ahmad Iranshahi, worked through Iranian corporations and banks in Switzerland and Dubai to mask the transfers by using food shipments and other commodities.
Calls to the couple's attorney and the Child Foundation were not returned Thursday.
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