Iranian Citizen Pleads Guilty to Illegally Exporting to Iran
An Iranian citizen pleaded guilty Aug. 9 to conspiring to illegally export technology from the U.S. to Iran, the Justice Department said in a press release. Negar Ghodskani was arrested for the violations in 2017.
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From 2008 to 2011, Ghodskani and a co-conspirator used a company located in Malaysia, Green Wave Telecommunication, as a front for their main operation based in Iran: Fanavar Moj Khavar (Fana Moj), the press release said. Ghodskani “falsely represented herself as an employee” of Green Wave to buy export controlled technology from U.S. companies and hid the ultimate destination and end-users from the companies, the press release said. When Ghodskani received the goods in Malaysia, she illegally exported them to Iran using an "international commercial carrier," according to court records.
Ghodskani and her associates used false statements” and “unlawful financial transactions” to buy the goods from U.S. companies, which were “typically microelectronics,” according to an Aug. 9 plea deal. Before buying from U.S. companies, Ghodskani and her co-conspirator, Alireza Jalali, asked companies about pricing, timing of delivery and "other details" for exporting digital communications equipment from the U.S. while saying they were Green Wave employees, according to court records. When Ghodskani sent emails to the company, she used a "digital signature" that said she worked at Green Wave in Malaysia and listed a Malaysian telephone number to hide her location in Iran, records said.
To complete the purchases from U.S. companies Jalali would “facilitate the receipt of funds … through a money exchanger” to a Malaysia-based bank, the records said. This allowed Ghodskani to evade U.S. economic sanctions. The illegal exports included 47 converters and 150 synthesizers, records show.
Fana Moj specializes in “broadcast communications and microwave communications” in its role as a “digital video broadcasting equipment” and “wireless broadband” supplier in Iran, the court records said. The company’s “principal customer was Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting,” which is owned by the Iranian government, records show.
Jalali pleaded guilty to illegal export charges in 2017. Jalali was also listed as a Specially Designated National by Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2017, the Justice Department said.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the court records.