A US-Iranian citizen has been arrested in the United States for unlawfully exporting restricted technology hardware to Iran. The defendant, Jamshid Ghomi, is the chief executive of an Iran-based technology firm named Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh Co. Ltd. (FPR). He was taken into custody after a complaint accused him of violating the International Economic Emergency Powers Act (IEEPA).
ANI reported that the complaint alleges he procured and exported restricted American technology to Iran without obtaining the requisite authorisation from the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The equipment was allegedly being sent via third-party intermediaries in the UAE before being received in Iran by state and military stakeholders. Iranian recipients, including state and military-affiliated entities.
Deliberate Attempt
The DOJ has asked investigators to consider this as a deliberate attempt to circumvent export controls and direct advanced American technology to sanctioned Iranian entities.
This prosecution is a part of a broader federal enforcement by the justice department move to prevent unauthorised technology transfers to adversarial states.
Time of India reported that FPR supplied technology to the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, the body responsible for overseeing the country’s nuclear programme, as well as to the ministry of defence and armed forces, as per court files.
The firm is additionally alleged to have provided encryption and security systems to defence-affiliated operations in contravention of explicit sanctions prohibitions.
Complex Paper Trail
Ghomi allegedly hid the financial trail of transactions through fake invoices, complex monetary transactions, shell corporations etc, showing a transaction of over $14 million from 2011-2015.
He also allegedly under-reported his income while simultaneously funding a multi-million-dollar luxury property in Newport Coast, where he lives.
If convicted, Ghomi will face a penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Judicial officials noted that the criminal complaint constitutes an allegation only, and the defendant retains the presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law.
(with inputs from Reuters)
