Three Iranian Philanthropists Sentenced in U.S.

Date: 06 February 2021 - 22:25

News ID: ۸۷۳۵۵

SAN FRANCISCO (Dispatches) -- Three executives with an Iranian auto manufacturing business accused of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran have been sentenced after pleading guilty to various federal offenses, though key details have been made unavailable to the general public.
Sadr Emad-Vaez, Pouran Aazad, and Hassan Ali Moshir-Fatemi were all sentenced on the same day this week, according to court records. All three were allegedly tied in with Ghare Sabz Company, also known as GHS Technology, a large manufacturing corporation in Tehran. They were accused of violating presidential executive orders related to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act that have been in places since the Clinton administration, which forbid people in the U.S. from providing goods, technology, or services to Iran or the Iranian government.
The three were indicted in 2018, when federal prosecutors in Northern California accused them of "acquired and engaged in attempts to acquire components from manufacturers all over the world (including the U.S.), in order to funnel them to GHS in Tehran.” Prosecutors wrote in court records the company supplied auto parts for Iran’s largest vehicle manufacturer and that they jointly owned two properties in Los Altos Hills and Palo Alto that were cumulatively valued at $10 million.
Emad-Vaez, the company’s managing director, was sentenced to 14 months after allegedly pleading guilty to conspiracy to export goods and services to Iran without a license. Moshir-Fatemi, the engineering manager, received 12 months and one day and was fined $50,000 for allegedly pleading guilty to the same charge. Aazad, the chief financial officer, received a probation term of one year and a $200,000 fine for a guilty plea of willful failure to report foreign bank accounts, court records show.
Typically, when a federal defendant is sentenced, prosecutors and defense attorneys will publicly file
sentencing memos detailing the offenses and the attorneys’ arguments to the judge tasked with handing down a sentence. That didn’t happen here. Instead, on Jan. 20 and 21, a total of a dozen court records were filed under seal and no sentencing memos have been made publicly available.
In court filings from July 2018 — three months after the charges were filed — attorneys for Emad-Vaez wrote that he had strong ties to the Bay Area, and had been actively involving in local charities.
"Mr. Emad-Vaez and Ms. Aazad also have close personal and philanthropic ties to the Bay Area community. Among their many other charitable pursuits, they have helped fund the renovation of the Computer Center at Henry Gunn High School in Palo Alto,” the attorneys wrote. "They have funded and participated in the organizational activities of Mothers Against Poverty (MAP). They have devoted their time as well as resources and expertise to helping MAP promote its cause and achieve its fundraising goals.”