A onetime Iranian security chief whom a lawsuit accuses of torturing anti-Shah dissidents transferred more than $20 million abroad before fleeing to the United States in 1978, the Guardian reported on Thursday citing leaked diplomatic documents.
Parviz Sabeti later westernized his and his wife’s names to Peter and Nancy after settling in Florida, the report said. The lawsuit against him by three plaintiffs describing themselves as former political prisoners seeks $225 million in damages.
Using those aliases, Sabeti established a successful real estate development company in central Florida, while he, his wife and their two daughters were listed as directors of several active firms, the report said.
The family own at least eight properties in Orange County, including a $3.5m mansion in a community called Windermere purchased in 2005, it added
Sabeti served as a top official in Iran's secret police, SAVAK, from 1973 to 1978. He resurfaced publicly during Iran’s widespread 2022 protests after decades out of view.
The report comes after a US district court in Florida rejected multiple motions by Sabeti to dismiss the case last month.
Sara Colón, an attorney for the plaintiffs, welcomed the Florida court’s rejection of Sabeti’s dismissal motions and its order to preserve her clients’ anonymity, telling the Guardian the ruling was a “positive result for survivors of torture who are seeking accountability and justice.”
Colón added that plaintiffs had been subjected to death threats and intimidation since filing the lawsuit.
An advocacy group for victims of torture and their families, The Iranian Collective for Justice & Accountability, said it hoped the Sabeti case would help end a “cycle of violence.”
“All victims deserve justice, and everyone engaged in torture and repression should be held accountable,” the Guardian quoted a spokesperson for the group as saying.
