A Florida court has convicted three Iranians of money laundering and violating US sanctions against the Iranian regime.
Mohammad Faghihi, a former assistant professor at the University of Miami, his wife Farzaneh Modarresi, and his sister Faezeh Faghihi, who ran Express Jane, received about $ 3.5 million in wire transfers between 2020 and 2016. The money was sent to Iran to purchase “genetic sequencing” equipment without the permission of the US Treasury Department.
On his way back from Iran, Faghihi was stopped at Miami Airport and interrogated. In his statements, he made false claims, including that he did not travel to Iran on a business trip and did not do any research work in this country, but according to the documents presented to the court, he is the director of a laboratory at Shiraz University of Medical Sciences!
The Faghihi’s bag also contained seventeen vials of biological material hidden under ice packs.
The Florida state court charged the three with conspiracy to commit money laundering, committing a crime against the United States through violating sanctions, smuggling goods from the United States to Iran, Internet fraud, and making false statements during interrogation.
Another Iranian citizen, Mehrdad Ansari, has been sentenced to 63 months in prison and three years under supervision for violating US sanctions against the Iranian regime, according to a Justice Department statement.
Ansari was arrested on charges of providing sensitive military equipment to the Iranian regime and violating US sanctions against the Islamic regime of Iran. According to the Justice Department, the components are used in nuclear weapons, electronic weapons, radio, radar and surveillance equipment and guided missiles.
