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Federal agents pounced on the opulent $35 million Newport Beach mansion of an Iranian tech boss charged with supplying US computer hardware to the Iran’s military and nuclear programs in a daring predawn raid on Wednesday.
The California Post was there as the FBI arrested Jamshid Ghomi, 63, of Newport Coast, who was charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and is expected to appear Wednesday afternoon in Santa Ana federal court.
The businessman, who is a dual citizen of Iran and the US, is accused of selling computer hardware to the Iranian government for use in its military and nuclear operations. Prosecutors allege Ghomi made millions on those deals and invented elaborate schemes to hide the transactions.
“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,” said Los Angeles’ top federal prosecutor Bill Essayli.
“We will hold him accountable by seeking an appropriate prison sentence and by seizing his assets, including his $35 million Newport Beach mansion,” he added.
Early Wednesday morning, dozens of agents dressed in tactical gear and carrying automatic weapons gathered early at a parking lot in tony Newport Beach near the accused Ghomi’s palatial pad.
From there, agents sped in a convoy to the property at 31 High Water within an exclusive gated community, encircling the mansion’s manicured grounds before calling for him to come out.
“What’s going on?” asked one of the stunned occupants of the mansion, as two of Ghomi’s adult sons and his wife were led outside by agents.
More agents carrying power tools and evidence boxes entered Ghomi’s the Italianate estate, while an interpreter arrived to interview him.
Ghomi eventually emerged after the interview and was taken into custody by agents who placed him in a silver SUV.
In addition to allegedly violating US sanction laws, federal authorities are investigating Ghomi for money laundering, tax evasion and other crimes.
He is accused of taking in more than $10 million annually in sales from his computer firm while only reporting a maximum income of $20,000 to the IRS.
For more than a decade, Ghomi allegedly used a Tehran-based computer networking company he founded called Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh to procure US networking equipment for customers in Iran in violation of US sanctions, prosecutors charge.
Ghomi arranged the secret shipment of more than 250 tons of controlled US technology and used his own eBay and PayPal accounts to make hundreds more purchases of computer-networking equipment that was shipped to Iran illegally, court papers say.
He personally negotiated the purchase of the computer equipment directly from suppliers in Minnesota and Nebraska, routing the hardware through a United Arab Emirates front company and then on to his company in Iran, authorities say.
He also used freight forwarders and intermediaries in Dubai to disguise the fact that Iran was the true destination for the hardware sent overseas, according to prosecutors.
Ghomi and his co-conspirators allegedly referred to Iran as the “Motherland” in their internal correspondence concerning the equipment’s procurement.
The technology he is accused of illegally importing went to hundreds of Iranian companies and government entities, many of which were subject to US sanctions, according to prosecutors.
A relatively small but significant portion of that business went to the Iranian regime’s nuclear and military establishment, prosecutors say.
Ghomi’s most visible asset is his sprawling, 14,000-square-foot home in Newport Coast, which occupies the end of a cul-de-sac on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Iron gates protect the ornate compound, where six chandeliers can be seen from the front steps and dual fountains flank an entryway paved with custom tiles.
Essayli said Ghomi’s arrest reflects the federal government’s commitment to enforcing sanction laws as the U.S. wages war in Iran.
“Our nation’s laws prohibiting doing business with one of the world’s largest state sponsors of terrorism must be enforced and obeyed,” he said.
English (US)