A dual U.S.-Iranian national and chief executive of an Iran-based technology company was arrested on Wednesday on a federal criminal complaint accusing him of violating U.S. sanctions by obtaining American networking, security and encryption equipment for customers in Iran, including entities tied to the country’s nuclear and military programs.
Jamshid Ghomi, 63, of Newport Coast, was charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, according to federal authorities. He was expected to make an initial appearance in federal court in Santa Ana later in the day.
Federal prosecutors allege Ghomi, founder, owner and CEO of Tehran-based Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh Co. Ltd., spent more than a decade acquiring U.S.-origin computer networking equipment for Iranian customers without authorization from the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
“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,” First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement. “Our nation’s laws prohibiting doing business with one of the world’s largest state sponsors of terrorism must be enforced and obeyed. We will hold him accountable by seeking an appropriate prison sentence and by seizing his assets, including his $35 million Newport Beach mansion.”
According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Ghomi used personal eBay and PayPal accounts from 2011 through 2023 to purchase hundreds of pieces of networking equipment and direct shipments through intermediaries in the United Arab Emirates before they were sent to Iran. Prosecutors allege he also negotiated purchases directly with suppliers in Minnesota and Nebraska in 2023, routing equipment through a front company in the UAE.
The complaint alleges that none of the technology could legally be exported to Iran without OFAC approval under federal sanctions laws that restrict transactions involving Iran due to concerns related to national security, nuclear activity, and terrorism sponsorship.
Investigators allege Ghomi concealed the activity by instructing co-conspirators in the UAE to omit his name from shipping documents, exclude invoices from Iran-bound shipments, and hide American-made equipment inside larger cargo shipments. Internal correspondence allegedly referred to Iran as “Motherland” during procurement discussions.
From 2014 to 2018, Ghomi allegedly arranged the shipment of more than 250 metric tons of networking equipment into Iran via freight forwarders and intermediaries in Dubai, disguising Iran as the final destination.
Federal authorities allege Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh Co. Ltd. generated annual sales exceeding $10 million and served hundreds of Iranian companies and government agencies, including entities subject to U.S. sanctions.
According to the affidavit, from 2017 to 2023 the company supplied U.S.-origin networking equipment to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the government agency overseeing Iran’s nuclear program, including uranium enrichment and centrifuge operations. Prosecutors allege the company also supplied networking, security and encryption equipment between 2014 and 2022 to Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics and affiliated military organizations.
“Today’s arrest reflects our commitment to disrupt the illegal flow of American technology to foreign nations, especially our adversaries. As alleged, Mr. Ghomi spent years exploiting United States financial systems and procurement channels to move controlled equipment to Iran while hiding his activities behind front companies and falsified documentation,” Darren Lian, acting special agent in charge of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office, said in a statement. “We will continue to work with our partners to safeguard national security by utilizing our financial investigative expertise.”
Prosecutors further allege Ghomi laundered proceeds from the business into the United States by transferring funds through trading companies and exchange houses in the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Turkey, and the UAE. The transfers allegedly carried descriptions such as “Buying Goods” and “For Consulting Fees.”
From 2011 to 2024, Ghomi allegedly moved more than $15 million from Iran into U.S. bank accounts and a construction escrow account while reporting the funds to the Internal Revenue Service as a foreign inheritance. Authorities said Ghomi reported little income during those years, with his highest reported annual income listed as $20,684, while claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit in seven tax years.
Federal investigators also allege that proceeds from the sanctions-evasion scheme financed the construction of Ghomi’s Newport Coast mansion. Prosecutors said Ghomi purchased the property lot in 2010 for $4.49 million and spent more than $10.4 million constructing the residence, with more than $7 million in foreign-source wire transfers flowing into the construction escrow account between 2011 and 2015.
In a social media statement released after the arrest, Acting AG Todd Blanch said the allegations assert Ghomi violated sanctions, aided Iran and “supported Iran’s nuclear program, and got rich doing it,” adding that officials had begun efforts to seize the residence.
If convicted, Ghomi faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
A criminal complaint contains allegations and is not evidence of guilt. Ghomi is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
