Orange County businessman accused of Iran tech smuggling

Federal prosecutors say Jamshid Ghomi, a Newport Coast businessman, used a Tehran-based company and a Dubai intermediary to ship U.S.-origin networking and encryption equipment to Iran for more than a decade without obtaining required licenses—work investigato

The arrest landed with the kind of timing federal prosecutors rarely talk about: after years, they say, of moving American technology into Iran while keeping his role hidden.

Jamshid Ghomi. 63. a Newport Coast man who prosecutors say ran a business based in Iran. was arrested and charged on Wednesday with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Prosecutors allege he spent years illegally importing U.S. technology into Iran without notifying the U.S. government—technology that, according to the criminal complaint, was supplied to Iranian customers including Iran’s nuclear establishment.

Investigators identify Ghomi as working through a company called Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh Co. Ltd., a Tehran-based computer networking company. The complaint says the business generated more than $10 million in sales annually and served hundreds of Iranian companies and government entities.

Prosecutors say Ghomi supplied Iranian customers—including the Iranian regime’s military and the Iranian government agency responsible for the production of atomic weaponry—with “sophisticated” U.S.-origin networking, security and encryption equipment for more than a decade.

In court filings, prosecutors describe a method built around denial and paperwork control. They allege Ghomi used an intermediary in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to smuggle U.S. technology into Iran, where he is a dual-citizen. They further accuse him of taking steps to conceal his involvement. including keeping his name off shipping paperwork. omitting invoices for Iran-bound shipments. and hiding U.S.-origin computer equipment inside other. larger shipments sent into the country.

The legal restrictions at issue come from the IEEPA and the Iran Transactions and Sanctions Regulations. The rules bar, among other things, transactions involving Iranian business that originate from or involve anyone from the U.S. without prior authorization from the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Prosecutors say that during the years Ghomi and Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh were exporting networking equipment into Iran. “there was no attempt to obtain the required licenses.”.

In a media statement, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said, “Ghomi is accused of aiding our declared enemies by selling U.S.-origin computer networking parts to Iran and earning millions of dollars in violation of U.S. sanction laws.”

Darren Lian. the acting special agent in charge of the IRS’ Los Angeles field office. said the case reflects prosecutors’ effort to stop the “illegal flow of American technology to foreign nations.” In his statement. Lian said Ghomi exploited U.S. financial systems and procurement channels to move controlled equipment to Iran while hiding his activities behind front companies and falsified documentation.

If convicted, Ghomi could face up to 20 years in prison.

The alleged conduct. taken together. is a single story of reach—tech shipments routed through intermediaries. documentation altered to keep identifying details out of shipping records. and equipment described by prosecutors as tied to Iran’s military and atomic weapons production. It is also. in the government’s telling. a story about how sanctions enforcement can hinge on who signs. who ships. and what the paperwork does—or doesn’t—say.

Orange County Newport Coast Jamshid Ghomi Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh Co. Ltd. Iran sanctions IEEPA U.S.-origin technology encryption equipment networking equipment Dubai intermediary Office of Foreign Assets Control DOJ charges