Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have detained the Iranian social media figure known as the “King of Instagram,” whose posts featuring nude models, luxury cars and extravagant parties attracted more than 1 million followers.
Farzad “Tony” Toutouni, 55, was arrested in Los Angeles on Oct. 27 after ICE officials said he illegally entered the United States from Canada. Authorities also linked him to an alleged criminal history dating to 1989, including kidnapping, robbery and extortion.
Toutouni lived in a $5 million Hollywood Hills mansion and promoted his lavish lifestyle through the Instagram account @lunatic_living. His posts showcased piles of cash, nude women and wild celebrations, all while he remained out of reach of immigration authorities.
In his online persona, Toutouni presented himself as a self-made entrepreneur and “Pelvis Philanthropist.” His posts offered followers glimpses of scantily dressed women in luxury surroundings, high-performance cars and an extravagant party lifestyle.
“I live my life like it’s my last day every day!” he wrote in one post last year. The image showed Toutouni seated aboard a private jet with three women on his lap and stacks of $100 bills arranged on a table in front of him.
Another post carried the caption “No wife great wife.” It showed the tattooed Iranian standing shirtless inside an upscale high-rise apartment, with a naked woman draped over one shoulder as he calmly picked food from a plate in his other hand.
“Tru inspiration,” one follower commented.
ICE officials said Toutouni, who also went by the first name “Robert,” committed several serious offenses in the United States after legally arriving in the country in 1983.
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His arrests included allegations involving criminal threats, criminal conspiracy, and the possession and sale of a controlled substance, according to the agency.
Officials also said he received a sentence of more than 16 months in prison for offenses including writing or passing a fictitious check, grand theft, conspiracy, forgery, kidnapping, robbery and extortion.
An immigration judge ordered Toutouni removed from the United States in 1993, but authorities said he remained in the country. A second removal order was issued in 1999, after which he was deported to Mexico, according to federal officials.
ICE said Toutouni later admitted that he illegally reentered the United States on or around April 4, 2011, crossing near Saint Clair, Michigan, on an electric raft he had purchased in Canada.
During that time, Toutouni cultivated the larger-than-life party persona he regularly promoted online. In a recent series of posts, he documented celebrations at Burning Man, posing with women beside an extravagant campsite equipped with a custom recreational vehicle and trailer decorated in a psychedelic style.
“I’m happy I experienced it, but it’s not something I would ever want to do again,” he said of the notoriously rowdy desert festival.
Toutouni remains in federal custody while ICE begins removal proceedings, officials said.
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