U.S. Sanctions Eight Canadian Money Firms Over Iran and Wedding Links

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned eight Canadian money-service businesses on Friday over alleged ties to Iranian sanctions evasion, terrorist financing and drug proceeds, including transactions linked to accused drug trafficker and former Olympic snowboarder Ryan Wedding. None of the allegations has been tested in court.

The designations fall under Executive Order 13902, which targets Iran's digital-asset sector. Treasury announced them Friday. FINTRAC, Canada's financial intelligence agency, confirmed it coordinated with the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network on the action.

That coordination, however, is where disclosure ends. FINTRAC has not said whether it has taken any compliance action against the eight firms. Canadian law restricts what the agency can reveal unless it publishes a notice imposing an administrative monetary penalty.

Which firms did Treasury name?

The U.S. list names:

• Diverse Trade Inc., doing business as Million Exchange
• 1380079 BC Limited
• Top PC Technician Inc.
• NIA Nations Currency Ltd.
• 2397639 Ontario Ltd., doing business as Farah Exchange
• CCC Inc.
• B Galaxy Inc.
• Darvish Exchange

Washington alleges the companies exchanged Iranian currency for digital assets or conducted transactions with cryptocurrency addresses connected to sanctioned Iranian exchanges, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or other prohibited actors. Treasury did not publish supporting transaction records with the designations, and the sanctions are administrative measures, not criminal convictions.

What is the alleged Wedding connection?

Treasury says several of the businesses handled money or digital assets associated with Wedding, 45, a Thunder Bay native now in U.S. custody awaiting trial. No new charge against him accompanied Friday's action.

The department's specific claims are these. Wedding used Million Exchange to convert cash generated through drug sales into digital assets that could be sent abroad. Amin Exchange allegedly laundered drug proceeds for him through locations in Vancouver and other Canadian cities; British Columbia-based 1380079 BC Limited and Ontario-based Top PC Technician Inc. are described as closely associated businesses operating under the Amin Exchange name. Farah Exchange allegedly sent millions of dollars in digital assets to addresses associated with Wedding.

One point deserves emphasis: the Treasury release did not say all eight businesses had dealings with Wedding. The allegations against the firms remain unproven.

Who is Ryan Wedding?

Wedding was born in Thunder Bay, moved to British Columbia, and competed for Canada in snowboarding at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, finishing 24th in the men's parallel giant slalom. His career included World Cup and North American circuit events.

His first U.S. conviction came in 2009, for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, after he attempted to purchase 24 kilograms of the drug from a U.S. government agent. He received a four-year federal sentence in 2010 and was released in 2011.

The current charges are far graver. Prosecutors allege Wedding led a transnational organization that moved large quantities of cocaine from Colombia through Mexico and Southern California into Canada and the United States. He faces charges of operating a continuing criminal enterprise, drug trafficking, murder, attempted murder, witness tampering and related offences. Prosecutors allege the organization ordered killings to protect operations and retaliate against rivals and potential witnesses.

The FBI added Wedding to its Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in March 2025. Mexican authorities apprehended him in January 2026 and transferred him to the United States, where he pleaded not guilty. The Justice Department said this week he remains in federal custody and faces two trials in 2027. Treasury had already sanctioned Wedding and members of his alleged network in November 2025 under a separate executive order targeting international drug trafficking.

What is Canada doing?

FINTRAC's sector-wide figures give one measure of enforcement pressure. The agency said it has revoked 161 money-service business registrations since the beginning of 2026 — more than during the previous three years combined. Nine businesses received more than $198 million in administrative penalties over the past year. Twenty-eight cases of alleged non-compliance were disclosed to law enforcement.

Those numbers cover the wider money-service sector. They should not be read as findings against any of the eight firms the United States sanctioned on Friday.

Three questions now decide whether this action has teeth: whether Canadian authorities announce charges, penalties or registration decisions; whether any of the businesses challenge their designation; and whether the alleged financial links surface as evidence in Wedding's 2027 trials.