3 Charged With Violating Iran Sanctions in Florida

Three members of a Florida family were charged with conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran and money laundering, the Department of Justice said. Mohammad Faghihi, along with his wife, Farzeneh Modarresi, and sister, Faezeh Faghihi, led Florida-based Express Gene -- a company that allegedly received multiple wire transfers from accounts in Malaysia, China, Singapore, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, totaling nearly $3.5 million, between October 2016 and November 2020. Some of this money allegedly was used to buy and then ship genetic sequencing equipment to Iran without a license from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, DOJ said.

Mohammad Faghihi was busted in February when he arrived at Miami International Airport, where he was inspected by CBP agents. At that time, Faghihi told officers he did not conduct any research in Iran. But, according to the criminal complaint, he was the director of a laboratory at Shiraz University of Medical Science in Iran that carried his name: “Dr. Faghihi's Medical Genetic Center.” His luggage contained 17 vials of unknown biological substances covered with ice packs and concealed beneath bread and other food, DOJ said.