California techie living in $35 million mansion arrested for supplying sensitive US equipment to Iran’s military, faces up to 20 years

A California tech executive has been arrested at his luxury ocean-view mansion after being accused of illegally supplying advanced US networking and encryption equipment to Iran’s nuclear and military institutions for more than a decade, according to US jutice department.

63-year-old Jamshid Ghomi is a dual Iranian-American national. He was taken into custody at his $35 million Newport Beach property and charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Authorities allege he helped channel sensitive technology to Iran and its ministry of defence through a long-running smuggling operation.

He is accused of using middlemen in the UAE to route purchases and shipments, including more than 400 transactions made through eBay and PayPal between 2011 and 2015. Prosecutors say over 250 metric tonnes of networking equipment were smuggled into Iran between 2014 and 2018 via freight forwarders based in Dubai.

Ghomi ran the operation through his company, Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh (FPR), which generated more than $10 million in annual sales. Investigators also claim the firm supplied Iran’s defence ministry between 2014 and 2022 and its nuclear agency from 2017 to 2023.

Authorities further allege that Ghomi moved more than $15 million from Iran into US accounts, falsely describing it as a foreign inheritance. The money was laundered through shell companies in the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Turkey and UAE.

Ghomi’s personal tax filings showed almost no income, with his highest reported annual income at $20,684, and that he claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit in seven separate years despite his alleged wealth.

The case also shows the scale of his property holdings. Ghomi purchased a vacant lot for $4.49 million in March 2010 and later spent about $10.49 million constructing a 14,000-square-foot mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean, reports the California Post. More than $7 million in foreign wires linked to his company flowed into the account used to fund the build.

Iran’s atomic agency was sanctioned by US in 2020 and later registered FPR as an approved vendor in 2021 and 2022.

First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said: 'We will hold him accountable by seeking an appropriate prison sentence and by seizing his assets, including his $35 million Newport Beach mansion.'

Essayli also said Ghomi was 'aiding our declared enemies' and 'doing business with one of the world’s largest state sponsors of terrorism.'

Ghomi was due to appear in court in Santa Ana, Orange County, and faces a possible sentence of up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
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