A Virginia resident and naturalized U.S. citizen pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran, the Justice Department announced.
From February 2013 to at least June 2017, Behrouz Mokhtari and others operated a scheme to allow Iranian entities to ship out petrochemical products and profit from them in direct contravention of U.S. sanctions.
Towards this end, Mokhtari, a resident of the Washington D.C. suburb of McLean, used multiple front companies.
The first was the Panama-based East and West Shipping, which purchased two liquid petroleum gas (LPG) tankers before ownership of the ships was transferred to other entities in order to conceal them.
The second was Greenline Shipholding Inc., which controlled the operations of the two purchased LPG tankers.
Mokhtari and his co-conspirators communicated via Greenline-connected email addresses with another business called “Company 5” by authorities, directing it to manage the leasing of the boats to transfer Iranian oil overseas.
Transactions and expenses relating to the boats were conducted via the U.S. financial system, even as the group of conspirators openly discussed the product they were shipping out and the fake documentation used to conceal shipments in internal emails.
At some point before May 2017, ownership of the first of the two vessels referred to as “LPG 1”, was transferred to Mokhtari-owned Russell Shipping. On May 30, 2017, LPG 1 was sold for scrap, with Mokhtari making $2,862,591.12 from the sale.
The purchaser sent the money to two bank accounts, one registered with Mori Construction and Development LLC and one with Mori Construction, both of which were controlled by Mokhtari. From there, transfers and check payments funneled the proceeds to a third account.
In March 2018, Mokhtari used the money to purchase a home in California for over $1.5 million.
The second scheme occurred between at least March 2018 and at least September 2020. Mokhtari did business with Iranian entities without having first obtained a license from the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Mohktari evaded U.S. sanctions through the FSR network of businesses in Iran and the United Arab Emirates; Mohktari held management positions in some FSR businesses and maintained ownership control in others.
In particular, Mokhtari and co-conspirators used the bank account of UAE-based business Bitubiz FZE, part of the FSR network, to process U.S. dollar transactions involving the refining and transport of Iranian oil and other petrochemical products.
Bitubiz ledgers recorded the receipt and transfer of funds between itself and sanctioned Iranian entities, but most of the funds were then credited to the Iran-based Ayegh Isfahan Manufacturing Company, another FSR business in which Mokhtari had an ownership stake.
As part of his guilty plea, Mokhtari is ordered to forfeit the home, along with any other money, property, or financial assets acquired through or used for the illegal activity. Furthermore, Mokhtari must surrender money equaling the proceeds of the 2017 sale of LPG 1.
Mokhtari faces up to five years in prison on each of the two charges of conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.