CEO of Iran tech company charged with supplying U.S. equipment to foreign government, Justice Department says
A U.S.-Iranian national who is the CEO of an Iran-based technology company has been arrested and federally charged with allegedly selling U.S. equipment to Iran's nuclear and military establishment, the U.S. Department of Justice says.
Jamshid Ghomi, 63, of Newport Coast, has been charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
According to court documents, Ghomi is the founder, owner and CEO of Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh Co. Ltd. (FPR), which is a Tehran-based computer networking company. Prosecutors allege that for more than a decade, Ghomi used his company to secure U.S.-origin computer networking parts and earned millions of dollars in violation of the country's sanctions against Iran.
"Our nation's laws prohibiting doing business with one of the world's largest state sponsors of terrorism must be enforced and obeyed, Essayli said. "We will hold him accountable by seeking an appropriate prison sentence and by seizing his assets, including his $35 million Newport Beach mansion."
The IEEPA and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR) impose restrictions on transactions involving Iran based on the threats made by Iran to the country's national security.
The IEEPA and ITSR prohibit the export, re-export, supply, or sale, directly or indirectly, from the U.S. or by a U.S. person to Iran or its government without first obtaining authorization from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Prosecutors allege Ghomi negotiated, purchased and arranged the shipment of large quantities of controlled U.S. technology for FPR. The DOJ alleges that from 2011 to 2023, Ghomi used his own eBay and PayPal accounts to purchase computer-networking equipment and directed the goods to intermediaries in the United Arab Emirates.
The DOJ adds that in 2023, he allegedly negotiated the purchase of the equipment directly from suppliers in Minnesota and Nebraska, routing it through a UAE front company and onto his FPR company in Iran.
"As alleged, Mr. Ghomi spent years exploiting United States financial systems and procurement channels to move controlled equipment to Iran while hiding his activities behind front companies and falsified documentation," said Darren Lian, Acting Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation's Los Angeles Field Office. "We will continue to work with our partners to safeguard national security by utilizing our financial investigative expertise."
Prosecutors accuse Ghomi of taking deliberate steps to conceal his involvement by directing his UAE co-conspirators to keep his name off shipping documents and to omit invoices from shipments heading to Iran.
"FPR's annual sales exceeded $10 million, and its clientele included hundreds of Iranian companies and government entities, many of which were subject to U.S. sanctions," the DOJ said. "A relatively small but significant portion of that business went to the most sensitive end-users in Iran: the Iranian regime's nuclear and military establishment.
The affidavit filed with the complaint points to a period between 2017 and 2023 when FPR was supplying U.S.-origin computer networking equipment to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, which is the country's government agency responsible for its nuclear program. AEOI was sanctioned by the U.S. State Department in 2020 for "playing a leading role in Iran's nonperformance of its nuclear commitments, including exceeding the limits on its uranium stockpile and enrichment levels," the DOJ said.'
Ghomi is also accused of laundering the proceeds from the allegedly illegal business into the U.S. and depositing them into an account at a sanctioned Iranian bank. According to court documents, from 2011 and 2024, he moved more than $15 million from Iran to his U.S. bank accounts.
The DOJ alleges Ghomi funded the construction of his Orange County mansion with money from his sanctions-evasion scheme.
If convicted on charges, Ghomi could face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
