Controversial Iranian billionaire Babak Zanjani has claimed that Crescent Petroleum not only seized Iran's Oil Ministry building in London valued at $125mn, but also confiscated $2.3bn from National Iranian Oil Company funds held at First Islamic Bank of Malaysia, according to a post on X on October 6.

Zanjani wrote on the social media platform that the bank was the reason former oil minister Bijan Zanganeh and others kept him in solitary confinement for seven years and seized his assets.

Zanjani, a controversial billionaire businessman, was convicted in 2016 of corruption charges related to oil sales during the sanctions era and sentenced to death, though the sentence has not been carried out. He has maintained his innocence and claimed he was made a scapegoat for officials who benefited from his sanctions-busting activities.

Crescent Petroleum is a United Arab Emirates-based oil and gas company that has been involved in long-running legal disputes with Iranian entities over gas supply contracts dating back to 2005.

The Iranian Oil Ministry building was reported to have been seized as part of enforcement proceedings related to an international arbitration award in favour of Crescent Petroleum.

First Islamic Bank of Malaysia, now known as CIMB Islamic Bank, has been involved in various transactions related to Iranian oil revenues during periods when international sanctions restricted Iran's access to the global financial system.

Zanjani's claims could not be independently verified. The businessman has used social media to make various allegations about corruption and mismanagement within Iran's oil sector and government institutions.

The National Iranian Oil Co. (NIOC) said it would use “all available legal capacities and mechanisms” to appeal a UK court ruling that upheld the seizure of one of its properties in London to partly enforce a $2.4bn arbitration award in favour of an Emirati firm, IRNA reported on October 8.

On October 4, the UK Court of Appeal rejected NIOC’s challenge. It confirmed an earlier decision ordering the confiscation of the NIOC House — a prime property near the British Parliament valued between £80mn and £104mn ($104mn–$135mn) — as part of enforcement actions sought by the UAE’s Crescent Petroleum.

The court ruled that NIOC’s 2022 transfer of ownership to a separate Iranian entity – the Retirement, Savings and Welfare Fund of Oil Industry Workers – was a transaction at undervalue, intended to evade creditors after a UK court permitted Crescent to enforce its arbitration claim.

Zanjani, once valued at $13.5bn, was arrested in December 2013 for allegedly withholding €2.8bn in oil revenues during international sanctions. He was sentenced to death by Iranian courts.

His death sentence was later commuted to 20 years' imprisonment in April 2024 after he cooperated with authorities to recover assets held abroad. However, that was also quietly overturned in July, and he was allegedly pictured abroad in southern France.

He is also believed to be one of the biggest crypto holders on the planet, according to sources close to him speaking with IntelliNews.