An Iranian national who ran a financial services company designed for cyber criminals has been sentenced in the US after being arrested and extradited from the UK, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has said.

Seyed Sajjad Shahidian, 33, was the chief executive of Payment24.ir – an online platform which helped Iranian nationals conduct prohibited transactions, including the purchase of computer software and servers.

The platform has previously been used by international cyber criminals seeking to target the UK, according to NCA cyber crime investigators.

Shahidian was sentenced in Minneapolis to time served plus two years supervised release.

Shahidian was sentenced in Minneapolis, USA, to time served plus two years supervised release (NCA/PA)

The FBI wanted Shahidian when NCA officers tracked him down in London in November 2018.

He was under surveillance throughout his brief trip, during which he visited a number of tourist spots, including the London Eye and Madame Tussauds.

He was arrested on November 11 2018 by NCA officers, along with the Met Police, on Stern Street, Shepherd’s Bush, at the property he had been staying at, and was later extradited to the US.

Shahidian pleaded guilty to conducting financial transactions in violation of US sanctions against Iran.

Shahidian went on a sight-seeing trip around London in November 2018 (NCA/PA)

Nigel Leary, head of operations at the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said: “The arrest and extradition of Mr Shahidian in the UK, along with his subsequent prosecution in the US, again demonstrates the successful collaboration of international law enforcement agencies to protect the public from cyber and financial crime.

“The NCA and FBI will continue to work in close partnership to target and disrupt serious and organised cyber criminals wherever they may be in the world.”