Tony, whose Instagram handle was lunatic_living, was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) officials on November 10. Farzad ‘Tony’ Toutouni, also dubbed the Iranian ‘King of Instagram ’ saw his account on the Meta-owned platform taken down after his arrest.
“Toutouni has prior removal orders and criminal convictions, including kidnapping, robbery, and extortion. He remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings,” they added, sharing visuals of the arrest. The statement noted that he’d been arrested for criminal threats, criminal conspiracy, and possession and sale of a controlled substance. Currently, he remains in ICE custody, pending removal proceedings.
ICE noted that Toutouni was arrested on October 27. As per ICE , Tony who also used the first name Robert, entered the US illegally for the first time in 1983. He was asked to be removed by an immigration judge in 1993. However, he was not removed at the time, and in 1999, an immigration judge again ordered Tony’s removal. His criminal spree reportedly began as early as 1989 and allegedly continued till the present day. Tony was also sentenced to over 16 months for making or passing a fictitious check, grand theft of access card, conspiracy to commit crime, possess/alter access card equipment, forgery, kidnapping, robbery and extortion, as per the ICE release. They also noted that in June 2023, Israeli immigrant Emil Lahaziel was murdered outside the West Hollywood mansion which Tony was renting.
