Bahram Mohammad Ostovari, 66, an Iranian national and U.S. permanent resident, was arrested and charged with four counts of illegally sending electronics that are used for telecommunications and railway signaling to the Islamic Republic over at least seven years, the U.S. Justice Department stated.
The CEO of a Tehran-based engineering company, Ostovari, who has homes in Santa Monica and Tehran, faces up to 80 years in prison for the four federal charges.
He was arrested upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport on Thursday, according to the Justice Department. He faces charges including conspiracy to violate and violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Charging documents allege Ostovari and unnamed co-conspirators “obtained and shipped sophisticated computer processors, railway signaling equipment and other electronics and electronic components,” many of which were controlled under federal regulations, to a company in Iran without the proper license to do so and without attempting to apply for it.
Prosecutors allege that he used front companies that he controls in the United Arab Emirates to acquire the electronics and components for the unnamed Iranian company and purposefully hid the true destination of those goods.
Even after Ostovari obtained U.S. lawful permanent resident status in 2020, he allegedly continued to export, sell and supply electronics and electrical components to that company, knowing that existing U.S. sanctions prohibited such activity, according to the Justice Department.
He was released on $1.3 million bond, and his trial is set for Sept. 2.
