A California tech executive has found himself at the center of a serious legal storm, facing charges that unravel an alleged decade-long scheme to bolster Iran’s nuclear and military capabilities. This startling development saw Jamshid Ghomi, 63, a dual national of Iran and the U.S., led away in handcuffs from his opulent, $35 million home with sweeping ocean views.
Authorities claim Ghomi orchestrated a network dedicated to selling advanced American technology, including networking, security, and encryption equipment, to Iran. This illicit operation, prosecutors assert, directly contravened the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by supplying sensitive materials to Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization and its Ministry of Defense. The Department of Justice made these charges public in a Wednesday announcement.
Ghomi, along with his alleged accomplices, reportedly communicated in private messages using the term “Motherland” when referring to Iran, a detail that underscores the depth of their connection to the country.
The scale of the operation is staggering. From 2011 to 2015, Ghomi allegedly executed over 400 transactions through his eBay and PayPal accounts. These purchases, however, did not go directly to Iran; they were cleverly rerouted via intermediaries based in the United Arab Emirates.
Between 2014 and 2018, authorities say more than 250 metric tons of high-tech networking equipment was clandestinely transported into Iran, facilitated by freight forwarders operating out of Dubai. This elaborate smuggling operation highlights the extensive reach and sophistication of the network Ghomi is accused of running.
More than 250 metric tons of networking kit was smuggled into Iran between 2014 and 2018 using freight forwarders in Dubai.
Ghomi allegedly used his company, Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh (FPR), as the vehicle for the smuggling operation, with annual sales topping $10 million.
He told the IRS the more than $15 million he moved from Iran into US accounts was a foreign inheritance, with the cash allegedly laundered through shell companies in the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Turkey and the UAE.
Jamshid Ghomi, 63, a dual Iranian-US of Newport Coast, California, is charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), the Department of Justice announced Wednesday
Ghomi’s federal tax returns reported almost no income, his highest reported income in any year being $20,684. While claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit, a break for low-income earners, in seven tax year, Ghomi built a huge mansion from the proceeds of his alleged crimes
Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of late Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends a meeting in Tehran, Iran, October 13, 2024
His federal tax returns reported almost no income, the highest in any year just $20,684.
Ghomi claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit, a break for low-income earners, in seven separate tax years, even as he built a vast mansion with the proceeds of his alleged crimes.
The sprawling 14,000-square-foot home, guarded by iron gates, sits on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, the California Post reported.
Ghomi bought the vacant lot for $4.49 million in March 2010, then spent roughly $10.49 million building the residence over the next three years.
More than $7 million in foreign wires flowed into the escrow account funding the construction between May 2011 and August 2015, handled by the same FPR employees and bearing the same false labels as the company’s sales revenue, according to the DOJ.
Iran’s atomic agency, sanctioned by the US in 2020 over enrichment breaches, made FPR register as an approved vendor in 2021 and 2022, the affidavit states.
The company supplied the nuclear body from 2017 to 2023 and Iran’s defense ministry from 2014 to 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.’
Ghomi, who was scheduled to appear at court in Santa Ana this afternoon, faces up to 20 years in jail.
