CEO & Co Sentenced for Conspiring to Illegally Export Valves to Iran
The Justice Department has announced that on May 9, 2011, GWC Valve International Inc., of California, and its chief executive officer, David Meador, were sentenced for conspiracy to export services related to industrial valves to Iran. On June 24, 2010, both GWC Valve International and Meador pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Iranian Transactions Regulations.
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CEO & Others Conspired to Export Services Related to Iran Valve Sales
According to court documents, between July 2005 and May 2008, Meador and others conspired to cause the export of financial and technical services related to the sale of the industrial valves to Iran without having first obtained the required licenses and authorization from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). U.S. persons are prohibited from engaging in commercial transactions involving Iran.
Valve Customers in Iran Were Concealed as End Users in the UAE
As part of the conspiracy, GWC and Meador received orders from customers in Iran for industrial valves, totaling more than $2.16 million, then entered into contracts with these customers and caused the valves to be manufactured on behalf of Iranian customers. The defendants also concealed that Iranian customers were the true recipients of the valves by once falsely asserting that the GWC office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the end user of the goods and on several occasions altering or omitting references to the Iranian banks and end users in correspondence about the sales.
Company Sentenced to Pay $300K in Fines, CEO to 13 Months in Prison
GWC Valve International was sentenced to a criminal fine of $300,000 and five years of corporate probation and to forfeit $410,833.82. Meador was sentenced to 13 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. The government has already received $110,000 in payments from the defendants.