Federal agents arrested a dual U.S.-Iranian businessman early on Wednesday, June 3, at his waterfront mansion in Newport Coast, charging him with running a years-long scheme to smuggle sophisticated American computer equipment to Iran’s nuclear program and military.
Jamshid Ghomi, 63, faces a federal charge of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
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Prosecutors say he spent more than a decade buying restricted U.S. networking, security, and encryption gear and routing it to Iran through front companies and false paperwork.
Ghomi, who founded and runs Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh Co. Ltd., or FPR, a Tehran-based technology firm, appeared in federal court in Santa Ana on Wednesday afternoon.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Ghomi “aided our declared enemies” by supplying parts that helped Iran’s regime while making millions in the process.
“Our nation’s laws prohibiting doing business with one of the world’s largest state sponsors of terrorism must be enforced,” Essayli said.
According to a detailed affidavit filed in court, Ghomi used his own eBay and PayPal accounts from 2011 to 2023 to purchase large amounts of American-made equipment.
He directed the gear to intermediaries in the United Arab Emirates, who then forwarded it to FPR in Iran. In 2023, he personally negotiated deals with suppliers in Minnesota and Nebraska.
None of the equipment could legally go to Iran without a license from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Ghomi never obtained one.
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Between 2014 and 2018, he arranged the shipment of more than 250 metric tons of networking equipment into Iran.
He told his partners in Dubai to keep his name off the documents, omit invoices, and sometimes hide the U.S. gear inside larger shipments. Internal messages referred to Iran as the “Motherland.”
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FPR generated more than $10 million in annual sales. Its customers included hundreds of Iranian companies and government agencies.
A considerable slice of the business went to the most sensitive buyers: the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics.
From 2017 to 2023, FPR supplied U.S.-origin equipment to the Atomic Energy Organization, the agency running Iran’s nuclear program, including its uranium enrichment work.
The U.S. sanctioned that agency in 2020 for violating nuclear commitments. FPR even registered as an approved vendor for the organization in 2021 and 2022.
The company additionally provided networking, security, and encryption gear to Iran’s defense ministry and related military electronics firms.
One 2017 contract signed by Ghomi listed the buyer as “Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, Iran Computer Industries.”
Ghomi reportedly knew the rules, as court papers say he was given clear warnings on invoices and software licenses that exporting the items to Iran was illegal. He took steps to hide what he was doing anyway.
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Prosecutors say he transferred more than $15 million from Iran to U.S. accounts between 2011 and 2024.
He funneled the money through trading firms in jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Turkey and the UAE. The wires contained false descriptions such as “Buying Goods” or “For Consulting Fees.
He told the IRS the money came from a foreign inheritance. His tax returns showed almost no income; the highest in any year was just over $20,000.
He claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit seven times. At the same time, he deducted more than $1.7 million in mortgage interest and $1.25 million in property taxes for his California home.
Newport Coast Mansion and Other Assets Face Potential Seizure
The money allegedly helped build his $35 million mansion. Ghomi bought the vacant lot in Newport Coast in 2010 for nearly $4.5 million and spent another $10.5 million on construction.
More than $7 million in foreign wires flowed into the construction escrow account during the build.
Darren Lian, acting special agent in charge for IRS Criminal Investigation in Los Angeles, said the case shows how investigators are using financial tools to stop American technology from reaching adversaries.
“Mr. Ghomi spent years exploiting United States financial systems and procurement channels,” Lian said.
The investigation involved the IRS Criminal Investigation and the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security. Assistant U.S. Attorney David C. Lachman is prosecuting the case.
Ghomi is presumed innocent until proven guilty. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in federal prison. Authorities also plan to seize assets, including the Newport Coast property.
