Maryland Man Indicted for Exports to Iran in Violation of Embargo
A Maryland man was indicted March 7 for exports in violation of the Iran Trade Embargo, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A federal grand jury indicted Ali Saboonchi of Parkville, Md., a U.S. citizen, and Arash Rashti Mohammad, a citizen and resident of Iran, for conspiring to export, and exporting, to Iran. Saboonchi faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy and on each of four counts for illegal export to an embargoed country. Rashti is believed to be living in Iran, ICE said.
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According to ICE, from November 2009 to the present, Saboonchi and Rashti conspired to evade the Iran Trade Embargo by exporting American manufactured industrial goods and services to Iranian businesses. Rashti, located in Iran, had Saboonchi in Maryland create and operate Ace Electric Company for the purpose of obtaining goods to be sent to Iran, ICE said. Rashti, who operated businesses in Tehran, Iran and the United Arab Emirates, solicited purchase orders and business from customers in Iran for industrial parts and components manufactured in the U.S.
ICE said Rashti obtained price quotes and paid for these items, and took delivery of most of the goods, which he then shipped to co-conspirators in UAE and in at least one case, China. Rashti would repay Saboonchi for the goods and further arrange for the entities in the UAE and China to send the goods on to him and his customers in Iran. The defendants did not obtain authorization to export the products, ICE said.