A California technology company CEO has been arrested and charged with allegedly helping supply U.S.-made equipment to Iran’s nuclear and military establishment in violation of federal sanctions, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Jamshid Ghomi, 63, a dual U.S.-Iranian citizen who resides in Newport Coast, California, faces charges of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), according to the Department of Justice.
Federal prosecutors allege that Ghomi procured and exported sophisticated U.S.-origin networking, security, and encryption equipment to customers in Iran, including organizations tied to the Iranian regime’s nuclear and military programs.
According to the DOJ, the equipment was supplied to sanctioned Iranian entities, including the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, which plays a central role in the country’s nuclear activities.
“As alleged, Ghomi enriched himself by supplying U.S. technology to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and other sanctioned entities responsible for Iran’s nuclear program,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said in a statement released by the Justice Department.
“The National Security Division will hold accountable those who violate our laws to further Iran’s nuclear ambitions,” Eisenberg added.
Prosecutors also allege that Ghomi moved more than $15 million from Iran into U.S. bank accounts and a separate escrow account while falsely reporting the funds to the Internal Revenue Service as a foreign inheritance.
The Justice Department said Ghomi’s federal tax returns reported little income, with his highest reported annual income totaling just $20,684. Despite those reported earnings, prosecutors allege he claimed tax credits intended for low- and moderate-income families during seven separate tax years.
According to court documents, Ghomi also reported more than $1.7 million in mortgage interest deductions and approximately $1.25 million in state and local real estate taxes on his federal tax returns.
Federal authorities further allege that Ghomi used proceeds generated through the sanctions-evasion scheme to finance the construction of a multimillion-dollar mansion in Orange County, California.
The case is being prosecuted by the Justice Department’s National Security Division and remains pending. The allegations against Ghomi have not been proven in court, and he is presumed innocent unless and until convicted.
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This is exactly why foreigners should never be in our Congress, never be in our highest offices, corporate, or otherwise,… especially to hold those high level positions in any corporation or government office… where they have access to any of our technology, no matter how high or low the technology it is… They do not have any love, or care, or allegiance, or fidelity, no loyalty, or commitment, to our people, to our USA, to the job given them, to our country. We are seeing more and more of this…. and the people who put them there doesn’t give a flip that they did this treason to us.