But Mojaradi claimed his business has suffered because he has run into issues at various financial institutions due to his ethnic and religious background, including having his account frozen multiple times without warning. In addition, some of his students have stopped taking his courses, he said, because their payments got flagged by the banks to the government, and they were too scared to continue.
Mojaradi said his issues with various financial institutions began almost immediately after starting his business. He said students’ PayPal payments to him were often delayed if they included phrases like “Iranian poetry” or “Persian poetry class.” In March 2021, he said his PayPal account was frozen without warning.
Mojaradi reached out to PayPal, explaining every term flagged, who he was, what he did, and who his students were. In one exchange, PayPal asked him for “an explanation of the reference to ‘Persian,’” in a screenshot reviewed by HuffPost. Mojaradi said his account was frozen three times and that more than two dozen payments made to him were flagged over three years. So he opened a business account, hoping it would alleviate the problem, but to no avail.
A PayPal spokesperson told HuffPost in an emailed statement that the company “takes its regulatory and compliance obligations seriously, including adherence to U.S. economic and trade sanctions” and that “efforts to comply with these regulatory requirements, there may be times when we need to review certain customer transactions.”
The study found that nearly all Muslims — 93% — who reported facing challenges with financial institutions experienced an issue with a personal account. Among this group, people were most likely to be turned down when trying to open a new personal account (44%), followed by having a personal account suspended or closed (33%). An additional 30% of Muslims said their payments were denied while using PayPal, Venmo, or similar money-transferring apps with their personal accounts.
In February 2022, Mojaradi tried to set up a Chase business account online but was told in emails, which HuffPost has reviewed, that he needed to do it in person and further explain his business. So he said he went into his local Chase branch office and answered more questions about his business. But two weeks later, he said, his account was frozen, and he was required to meet with a representative in person to have it unfrozen. He complied, but then it was frozen again. Frustrated, Mojaradi said he returned to the branch for a third time to close the account entirely.
“JPMorgan Chase would never exit a client relationship due to their race, political or religious affiliation. We encourage this customer to visit our branch with the proper documentation needed to open a business account,” said Stephanie Gostomski, the vice president of regional communications at JPMorgan Chase, told HuffPost in an emailed statement.
In July 2022, Mojaradi moved to Patreon, a platform for content creators and businesses to run a subscription service. However, the company froze his account entirely and withheld nearly $2,000, saying he was located in a country sanctioned by the U.S., according to messages reviewed by HuffPost. Mojaradi inherited Iranian citizenship from his father, but he was born and raised in Michigan. He established Persian Poetic as a limited liability company, meaning it was an American business he operated as an American citizen while living in the U.S. Mojaradi sent Patreon documents proving his U.S. citizenship.
“There are literally millions of Syrian American or Iranian Americans by now. All of us have bank accounts. Are we just all one day going to get up, and our bank accounts will shut down because you’re a Syrian citizen or an Iranian citizen?” Mojaradi said.
“Iran is a country that is comprehensively sanctioned by the U.S., and we cannot provide services or process financial transactions to or from Iranian entities or individuals who reside in Iran, regardless of citizenship,” Ellen Satterwhite, the interim head of communications and U.S. policy lead at Patreon, said in an emailed statement. “This does not just include where accounts were started, but where they operate. Specifically, we cannot support creators who operate or reside in Iran when we have evidence they do.”
Mojaradi also continues to use Venmo, which PayPal owns. Some payments still get flagged for additional review, which delays him getting his money. (In the blog post it sent in its email, PayPal said, “Venmo, like other U.S. financial institutions, screens payment activity and flags any payments that may violate U.S. economic sanctions.”)
“I would understand if the government looked into me one time and said, ‘OK, fine, this guy’s just teaching languages,’” Mojaradi said. “But every time I have to go through this rigmarole, either I get approved, or they just decide to reject me permanently. I think this is ridiculous. It’s discrimination. It has a chilling effect on my business. Who knows how many customers just don’t sign up with me when they have problems?”
“I’m going to stop you right there, that’s what the issue is: Palestine,” the representative said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Anything that has to do with the Middle East right now is very touchy, so PayPal does not support anything that has to do with the Middle East right now.”
Financial institutions often take action based only on the perception of risk. And a bank may perceive a client to be at high risk for money laundering or financing terrorist groups not because of their individual history but because of the country or region where the funds are being sent, said Andrea Hall, the senior manager of the Together Project, which helps groups that are part of InterAction – the largest alliance of international nonprofits in the United States – that faced discrimination.
“As the problem was studied further, it became apparent that U.S. laws and regulations were a primary driver of this problem, not only for U.S.-based charities but for foreign-based charities as well. Because of the long reach of sanctions,” Hall said. “This is a multifaceted problem and requires a multifaceted solution.”
Muslim groups have said they often faced scrutiny over their international wire transfers, causing significant delays and cancellations. Sometimes these groups have had their accounts shut down without notice, leaving organizations scrambling to pay their employees or to apply donated funds to humanitarian aid projects.
“Frankly, it’s gotten to a point where I don’t even really want to permanently live in America. You yell at me in the supermarket. You blocked my payments. You stare at me funny. You harass me when I enter the country,” he said. “These experiences have made me not even want to be part of this country.”
This content was originally published here.
