Iranian-American arrested in US for exporting technology to Iranian nuclear programme

Jamshid Ghomi, 63, was arrested in California on suspicion of supplying computer equipment to Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Businessman arrested in California accused of circumventing sanctions to supply Iran's nuclear programme

According to elmundo.es, an Iranian-American businessman has been detained in the United States on suspicion of illegally exporting high-technology computer equipment to Iran, in violation of current sanctions. Judicial authorities confirmed the arrest on Wednesday.

Jamshid Ghomi, 63, a resident of Newport Coast, California, and owner of a computer company based in Tehran, was presented before a federal judge on the same day as his detention, in accordance with a statement from the US Department of Justice.

According to the charges, Ghomi is alleged to have operated for more than a decade, from 2011 onwards, channelling computer equipment to customers in Iran through intermediaries in the United Arab Emirates in order to circumvent US restrictions. His company's annual sales "exceeded 10 million dollars and were destined for hundreds of Iranian companies and government entities, many of which were subject to US sanctions," the official statement says.

The Department of Justice emphasises that "a relatively small but significant portion of this activity was directed at the most sensitive users in Iran: the Iranian regime's nuclear and military apparatus." John Eisenberg, from the National Security division of the Department, clarified that the accused "is charged with having enriched himself by supplying US technologies to Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation and other sanctioned entities involved in the Iranian nuclear programme."

Ghomi faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, as well as forfeiture of his assets. Among these is a property valued at 35 million dollars, the construction of which, according to the charges, is alleged to have been financed with profits obtained from the illegal activity.

Source: Google News ES — Crime (es)