GREENBELT, Md. – U.S. District Judge Lydia Okay. Grigsby immediately sentenced Mr. Behrouz Mokhtari, 72, a local of Iran and a naturalized U.S. citizen of McLean, Virginia, and Tehran, Iran, to 41 months in federal jail. sentenced. She was sentenced to a few years of supervised launch on prices of conspiring to have interaction in prohibited enterprise actions on behalf of people and entities in Iran and violating U.S. sanctions towards Iran. Judge Grigsby additionally ordered Mokhtari to forfeit roughly $2,862,598 in proceeds from her felony actions and a residence she bought in Campbell, California, for greater than $1.5 million with the proceeds. Earlier this yr, Mr. Mokhtari pleaded responsible to 2 counts of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (“IEEPA”).
The sentence was introduced by Erec L. Baron, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland. Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division; and Thomas J. Sobocinski, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Baltimore Field Office.
“Although this defendant knew that doing enterprise with Iran was prohibited, he however did so and tried to cowl up his actions by controlling companies and monetary establishments in Iran and the United Arab Emirates.” mentioned U.S. Attorney Erek L. Baron. . “He will no longer solely serve time in federal jail, however can even forfeit the money and property he bought with ill-gotten proceeds.”
According to the responsible plea, in a conspiracy that lasted from at the very least March 2018 to at the very least September 2020, Mokhtari engaged in enterprise actions along with his co-defendants on behalf of Iranian firms with out first acquiring the required info. They agreed to keep away from sanctions on Iran by doing so. License from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”).
Mr. Mokhtari held administration positions or maintained possession pursuits in a number of firms in Iran and the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) collectively referred to as the “FSR Network.” Mokhtari and his co-conspirators used the FSR community to supply companies to Iranian firms and have interaction in transactions involving Iranian petrochemical merchandise, together with petrochemical refining and maritime transportation. Mokhtari and his co-conspirators have been positioned within the UAE to course of these USD transactions, together with Bitubiz FZE, which was a part of the FSR community and over which Mokhtari exercised partial or full management. I used a checking account.
Mr. Mokhtari is accused of being a conduit for the FSR community by means of which Bitubiz hid the truth that Mr. Mokhtari and his co-conspirators have been conducting monetary transactions with and offering companies to Iranian entities in violation of Iranian sanctions. He admitted that he was working as a. Bitubiz maintained a day by day ledger that recorded the receipt and switch of funds. After receiving the wire switch, Bitubiz deposits nearly all of the quantity into Ayegh Isfahan Manufacturing Company (“AIM”). Mokhtari and others have been primarily based in Iran, engaged within the petrochemical business, and had possession pursuits in AIM, which was a part of the FSR community.
As acknowledged within the responsible plea, in a separate conspiracy that started round February 2013 and continued by means of at the very least June 2017, Mr. Mokhtari and quite a lot of Iranian nationals dedicated sanctions towards Iran and the unlawful cargo of petrochemicals from Iran. agreed to do it. It used the U.S. monetary system to facilitate such shipments. To additional this plan, Mokhtari established a entrance firm in Panama, East & West Shipping Co., and bought two liquid petroleum fuel (LPG) tanker vessels for about $38 million. These vessels have been then used to move Iranian petrochemical merchandise in worldwide commerce on behalf of, and for the good thing about, Iranian firms related to the Iranian authorities.
After utilizing East & West to buy two vessels (LPG vessels 1 and a pair of), Mokhtari transferred the possession of the vessels to others as a way to cover the co-conspirators’ monetary and possession pursuits within the two vessels. Transferred to a corporation. The co-conspirators then used one other enterprise entity, his Greenline Shipholding, Inc., to regulate the operations of LPG vessels 1 and a pair of. For instance, the co-conspirators offered directions to Company 5 by means of electronic mail communications from Greenline electronic mail accounts or electronic mail accounts containing some variation of the Greenline title. A ship administration firm, leasing and working LPG vessels No. 1 and No. 2 to move Iranian petrochemical merchandise from Iranian ports to different places and to take part in ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian merchandise on the excessive seas. supervise.
Co-conspirators, together with Mokhtari, used the U.S. monetary system to have interaction in transactions associated to vessel leases and different bills. Additionally, Mokhtari and his co-conspirators disclosed the character and supply of the merchandise the vessels have been transporting, the usage of false delivery paperwork, and different actions taken to hide the truth that the vessels have been transporting merchandise. We communicated ceaselessly by way of e-mail concerning strategies of Travel backwards and forwards with Iran to keep away from Iranian sanctions.
Mokhtari acknowledged that he knew that, as a U.S. citizen, he was prohibited from partaking in enterprise with Iranian entities with out first acquiring a license or allow from OFAC. He additional knew that it was unlawful for him to have interaction in transactions aimed toward circumventing Iranian sanctions or involving items or companies of Iranian origin or export.
U.S. Attorney Erech L. Barron praised the FBI’s efforts within the investigation. Mr. Barron thanked Assistant United States Attorney Kathleen O. Gavin, who prosecuted this case with priceless help from the National Security Agency’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Division.
For extra details about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, its priorities, and the sources out there to assist our communities, please go to www.justice.gov/usao-md.
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