The trial over the stabbing of Iran International presenter Pouria Zeraati turned to the alleged money trail behind the attack, with prosecutors describing payments routed through a west London construction company and relatives of one defendant.
Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday was told that Nandito Badea, 21, and George Stana, 25, received thousands of pounds through payments linked to Hemroc Ltd, a company based in Park Royal, west London, which was incorporated in 2020 and listed its business as the construction of domestic buildings.
Badea and Stana are accused over the March 2024 stabbing of Zeraati outside his home in Wimbledon, southwest London. They deny the charges.
Prosecutors allege the attack was carried out by criminal proxies acting on behalf of the Islamic Republic, an allegation Iran’s embassy in London has called “baseless.”
Prosecutors said Hemroc had links to another company, Besuch Ltd, which operated “unlicensed restaurants and cafes” and traded under the name Tehran Lounge.
The court was told a man named Constantin Matache was a director of the company and that Hemroc made 183 payments totaling £80,540 to Stana’s sister, Florina, with the reference “loan.”
Florina then made 130 payments to Stana, who mainly passed the money on to others but used some for food, travel, cash withdrawals and other spending, retaining £1,330, prosecutors said.
Badea received 78 payments from Florina, the court heard. Prosecutors said he used the money for daily expenses and payments to Hotel Lily in West Brompton, where the men stayed while conducting surveillance, retaining £8,312.
Earlier in the trial, jurors were shown CCTV that prosecutors said captured the alleged getaway after Zeraati was stabbed three times in the leg in broad daylight.
The court has heard the defendants flew in from Romania and spent about a month carrying out surveillance near Zeraati’s home. On the day of the attack, prosecutors allege, Andrei grabbed Zeraati from behind while Badea stabbed him and Stana waited in a side road as the getaway driver.
The men later took a taxi to Heathrow Airport, changed clothes and boarded a British Airways flight to Geneva, the court was told.
Police found the car two days later. Arrest warrants were issued on October 3, and all three men were arrested in Romania on December 4. Badea and Stana were extradited to Britain 13 days later. Andrei could not be extradited because he was subject to domestic proceedings in Romania.
Iranian authorities in 2022 labeled Iran International a terrorist organization and said anyone working with the broadcaster would be deemed a threat to national security.
That year, posters were put up in Tehran featuring pictures of several journalists, including Zeraati, under the heading “Wanted: dead or alive.”
The court has also heard that police provided armed security for Iran International’s offices in Chiswick in 2022, and that the broadcaster later moved to Washington for a period after being told its employees could not be adequately protected in the UK.
The trial is continuing. The defense case is expected to begin next week.
In a separate case earlier this month, a trial date was set for three defendants charged over an alleged arson incident near Iran International’s studios in northwest London. That trial is scheduled to begin on January 25 next year at the Central Criminal Court.
