Indictment: Men smuggled $2.3M in parts to Iran oil firms

Three men accused of smuggling industrial equipment into Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions have been indicted by a grand jury in Seattle.

Federal prosecutors claim the men -- Mehran Ghanouni, his father Bahram Ghanouni, who is also known as Ben Anderson, and Peiman Basiri – exported $2.3 million worth of parts used in oil production to Iran’s government-owned oil firms.

A Canadian citizen, Mehran Ghanouni made an initial court appearance Thursday afternoon in U.S. District Court at Seattle. Bahram Ghanouni, who is also Canadian, and Basiri, who is believed to be based in Iran, are not yet in U.S. custody.

MORE FROM SEATTLEPI: Canadian accused in Iran smuggling scheme arrested in Blaine

As investigators describe it, the smuggling scheme centered on companies associated with the Ghanounis.

Basiri is described as a manager with Yavar Sanaye Isfahan, an Iran-based petrochemical supply company founded by Bahram Ghanouni in 1997. The firm, also known as YSI, regularly does business with Iran’s government-owned oil companies.

Ghanouni and his coconspirators sent $2.3 million to Iran falsely claiming they were destined for companies in Kuwait, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates. Prosecutors claim the men attempted to illegally export the equipment on 35 different occasions.

"The violation of export control requirements undermines our national security," U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes said in a statement.

Iran has faced economic sanctions from the United States and others since the 1979 revolution that resulted in the Islamic republic. Sanctions have limited Iranian access to equipment produced aboard, including parts for the oil industry that underpins Iranian economy.

The indictment unsealed Thursday offered details on five transactions investigators claim violate several U.S. laws. According to the indictment, four of the shipments went to Kala Naft, a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company. Both organizations have been sanctioned by the European Union.

Describing the apparent beginning of the investigation into the Ghanounis, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent said in court papers that Mehran Ghanouni was stopped on Oct. 9, 2014 at the Linden border crossing in northwest Washington state.

According to the agent’s statement, the 29-year-old told Customs and Border Protection officers he was headed to nearby Blaine to mail “power switches” to the United Arab Emirates. Mehran Ghanouni explained he was a sales manager for his father’s company, Integrated Control Solutions, also known as ICS. The British Columbia-based company is a distributor of industrial equipment.

Investigators followed Mehran Ghanouni to the Mailbox International facility in Blaine, where they searched a package he had arranged to mail, the special agent said in court papers. According to the agent’s statement, investigators found the box was destined for a firm with an address in Erbil, Iraq, and contained three industrial pressure switches made by an Oregon firm. Investigators claim they were destined for Iran.

Investigators identified three companies alleged to have been used by the Ghanounis and others to move sanctioned goods into Iran.

The Ghanounis traveled to the United States together the following month and were again questioned at the border. Writing the court, the Homeland Security agent said he saw documents referencing an “Iran office” of the Ghanounis’ company and other correspondence pointing to a relationship with Iran.

According to the agent’s account, investigators recovered a 2011 business plan for Bahram Ghanouni’s Iran-based firm describing the “use of ICS abilities for supplying the products which are under sanction.” The plan purportedly included a graphic depicting relationships between Ghanouni’s various U.S. and Canadian companies.

The men have been indicted on a single count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The Ghanounis have each been charged with making false statements to investigators.

The indictment was issued under seal on Feb. 14. It was unsealed Thursday with Mehran Ghanouni’s arrest.

Mehran Ghanouni is expected to return to court Monday for a preliminary hearing. He remains jailed.

SeattlePI senior editor Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at @levipulk. Find more from Levi here on his author page.