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NEW YORK – The former president of a foundation that prosecutors say has a history of legal entanglements over its alleged ties to Iran's government pleaded guilty Wednesday to obstruction.

Farshid Jahedi, the ex-president of the Alavi Foundation, said during his plea in U.S. District Court in Manhattan that he tore up and threw away documents that he knew would be subject to a subpoena issued in connection with a grand jury investigation.

In court papers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry A. Chernoff wrote that the government last year filed a forfeiture complaint alleging that the Alavi Foundation's sole partner in the ownership of a Fifth Avenue office tower was actually a shell company fronting for a secret interest held by Bank Melli, the state-owned bank of Iran.