Federal prosecutors have charged a California technology executive with participating in a years-long scheme to acquire U.S.-made networking, security and encryption equipment and supply it to customers in Iran, including organizations tied to the country’s nuclear and military establishments.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced June 3 that Jamshid Ghomi, 63, of Newport Coast, Calif., was arrested and charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA.
Prosecutors allege Ghomi, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen plus founder, owner and CEO of Tehran-based Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh Co. Ltd. (FPR), used the company to procure restricted American technology for Iranian customers despite longstanding U.S. sanctions and export controls. He faces a maximum 20 years in federal prison.
According to the DOJ, the alleged operation began in 2011 and continued for more than a decade. Prosecutors contend Ghomi acquired U.S.-origin networking, security and encryption equipment and routed shipments through intermediaries in the United Arab Emirates before the products ultimately reached customers in Iran.
Neither Ghomi nor FPR obtained authorization from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to conduct the transactions described in the complaint, according to the DOJ.
Prosecutors allege Ghomi personally identified, negotiated, purchased and arranged shipments of U.S.-origin networking equipment for Iranian customers. Between 2011 and 2015, Ghomi allegedly used his personal eBay and PayPal accounts to make more than 400 purchases of computer-networking equipment, directing the products to intermediaries in the United Arab Emirates before they were shipped to Iran.
Federal authorities also allege Ghomi personally negotiated purchases of U.S.-origin networking equipment from suppliers in Minnesota and Nebraska in 2023. According to prosecutors, the products were routed through a UAE front company before reaching FPR in Iran.
The Justice Department contends Ghomi knowingly concealed the equipment’s true destination. Prosecutors allege he directed associates in the United Arab Emirates to keep his name off shipping documents, omit invoices from shipments bound for Iran and, on at least two occasions, hide U.S.-origin computer equipment inside larger shipments.
Authorities also allege Ghomi received invoices and software-license notices warning that exports to Iran were prohibited but continued arranging transactions. From 2014 to 2018, Ghomi allegedly arranged for more than 250 metric tons, or approximately 275 U.S. tons, of networking equipment to enter Iran through freight forwarders and intermediaries in Dubai.
Prosecutors claim the operation helped FPR become one of Iran’s largest suppliers of foreign networking equipment, generating annual sales exceeding $10 million and serving hundreds of Iranian companies and government entities.
Ghomi and his associates referred to Iran as the “Motherland” in internal communications concerning equipment procurement, per DOJ.
Alleged Nuclear and Military Customers
FPR supplied U.S.-origin networking equipment to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) from 2017 through 2023, according to prosecutors.
AEOI oversees Iran’s nuclear program, including its centrifuge and uranium-enrichment programs. The State Department sanctioned AEOI in 2020 for its role in Iran’s nuclear activities and nonperformance of nuclear commitments.
Prosecutors also allege AEOI required FPR to register as an approved vendor, which the company did in 2021 and 2022.
Federal authorities also claim FPR supplied U.S.-origin networking, security and encryption equipment to Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics and affiliated military and defense-electronics entities from 2014 through 2022. They cite a 2017 contract signed by Ghomi identifying the buyer as “Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics — Iran Computer Industries.”
Following the Money
The Justice Department alleges Ghomi moved proceeds from the operation into the United States through trading companies and exchange houses in the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
According to prosecutors, revenue from FPR’s sales was deposited into an account at a sanctioned Iranian bank before funds were transferred through intermediary entities and ultimately sent to Ghomi in the United States. Federal authorities allege the wire transfers frequently carried descriptions such as “Buying Goods” and “For Consulting Fees.”
Prosecutors assert Ghomi transferred more than $15 million from Iran into U.S. bank accounts and a construction escrow account between 2011 and 2024. They also allege he falsely reported the money to the Internal Revenue Service as a foreign inheritance.
The Justice Department further claims Ghomi reported little income on his federal tax returns. According to prosecutors, his highest reported annual income was $20,684. Federal authorities allege he claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit in seven tax years while reporting more than $1.7 million in mortgage-interest payments and more than $1.25 million in state and local real-estate taxes during the same period.
Prosecutors believe Ghomi used proceeds from the alleged operation to fund construction of a Newport Coast mansion. Ghomi purchased a vacant lot in 2010 for approximately $4.49 million and spent roughly $10.49 million constructing the residence between 2010 and 2013, according to DOJ. Prosecutors allege more than $7 million in foreign-source wire transfers flowed into the construction escrow account between 2011 and 2015.
The Sanctions Laws Behind the Case
Federal prosecutors charged Ghomi with conspiracy to violate IEEPA, a 1977 law that allows presidents to regulate certain economic transactions after declaring a national emergency involving an unusual and extraordinary foreign threat.
The Iran sanctions regime rests on previously declared national emergencies that remain in effect today. President Jimmy Carter declared a national emergency involving Iran in Executive Order 12170 on Nov. 14, 1979. A separate Iran-related emergency was declared under Executive Order 12957 in 1995.
Iran-related restrictions are implemented through the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, or ITSR, which are administered by OFAC. The regulations generally prohibit U.S. persons from exporting, re-exporting, selling or supplying goods, technology or services to Iran without authorization. They also prohibit attempts to evade those restrictions through intermediaries, third countries and front companies.
According to prosecutors, neither Ghomi nor FPR obtained the OFAC authorization required for the transactions described in the complaint.
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