Iranian Citizen Pleads Guilty to Violations of IEEPA, Iran Sanctions Regulations

An Iranian citizen pleaded guilty to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and Iran sanctions after she tried to illegally export gas turbine parts from the U.S. to Iran, the Department of Justice said in a July 19 press release. Mahin Mojtahedzadeh faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence and $1 million fine when sentenced in November.

Between 2013 and 2017, Mojtahedzadeh, president and managing director of Dubai-based export company ETCO-FZC, used the company to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran, DOJ said. Mojtahedzadeh coordinated with companies in Canada and Germany to buy more than $3 million worth of turbine parts from two distributors in New York before shipping the parts from the respective countries to ETCO’s customers in Iran, the press release said. Mojtahedzadeh and the companies did not have proper export licenses to ship the parts.

Two of Mojtahedzadeh’s co-conspirators, Olaf Tepper and Mojtaba Biria, both citizens of Germany, already have pleaded guilty. Tepper, founder and managing director of Energy Republic GmbH in Germany, pleaded guilty to IEEPA violations, was sentenced to prison and had his export privileges stripped (see 1907010032). Biria, the technical managing director for Energy Republic, pleaded guilty to similar charges and faces sentencing in August, DOJ said.