Iranian Influencers Summoned by Tehran Court Over Gambling 'Racket'

Online celebrities Amir Tataloo, Donya Jahanbakht and Sasha Sobhani have been summoned by Branch 8 of Tehran Criminal Court over a series of gambling sites they operated from outside of Iran.

The three controversial Instagram stars are all understood to be in Europe after the Islamic Republic put out Interpol red notices against them based on complaints by former users of their betting sites.

Reporting on the new order issued by Judge Mohammad Amin Taghvian, the website Jam-e Jam alleged that some of the complainants said they had won games, but never received a payout, and claimed to have been defrauded.

Another influencer and betting site operator, Milad Hatemi, was extradited from Turkey to Iran last Match and later appeared on an IRIB broadcast giving an apparently forced confession. Amir Tataloo, real name Amirhossein Maghsoudloo, was arrested in Turkey in January 2020 and was also due to be extradited, but the Iranian judiciary never confirmed whether this took place.