Iranian-American Nabbed By Feds, Charged With Smuggling Pricey Tech to Help ‘Motherland’ Regime
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The FBI arrested an Iranian-born American citizen in Southern California for allegedly smuggling millions of dollars worth of tech hardware into Iran The post Iranian-American Nabbed By Feds, Charged With Smuggling Pricey Tech to Help ‘Motherland’ Regime first appeared on Mediaite.
The FBI arrested an Iranian-born American citizen in Southern California on Wednesday for allegedly smuggling millions of dollars worth of tech hardware into Iran, Fox News reported.
The brazen scheme was orchestrated by 63-year-old Jamshid Ghomi for more than a decade, the feds claim. Fox News senior national correspondent William La Jeunesse told America Reports viewers that Ghomi was a duel citizen who referred to Iran as the “motherland,” according to electronic communications obtained by law enforcement.
“He sent more than 250 tons of networking and encryption hardware worth millions of dollars to Iran,” La Jeunesse reported. “Over the last decade, he made hundreds of purchases of these components for the Islamic regime but routed the shipments through the [United Arab Emirates] to skirt U.S. law and obscure the real destination.”
The Fox News broadcast showed footage of the bald and portly Ghomi being escorted away from his Newport Beach home in handcuffs as La Jeunesse reported. Ghomi was wearing a white V-neck shirt and looked rather unkempt.
La Jeunesse said Ghomi kept his name off of invoices and lied about how he made a living in government filings, even going as far as to claim the most dough he made in a year was $20,000, which allowed him to claim an earned income tax credit.
In reality, the feds said Ghomi made at least $15 million in the years-long plan to help Iran’s theocratic regime. He made at least 11 overseas trips as part of the scheme, per the FBI.
Ghomi lived in a 14,000 square foot beachfront mansion that cost $35 million, La Jeunesse added.
“He aided our enemies, provided them sensitive U.S. computer components for their government, their programs, their systems and he enriched himself, made millions of dollars doing this,” one FBI agent told Fox News.
He is facing up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Watch above.
The post Iranian-American Nabbed By Feds, Charged With Smuggling Pricey Tech to Help ‘Motherland’ Regime first appeared on Mediaite.