Philadelphia Area Chemical Engineer Found Guilty of Violating Iran Sanctions
A federal jury in Philadelphia this past Friday convicted a chemical engineer who holds a Ph.D from Stanford University of a number of crimes relating to doing business with Iran.
Dr. Ali Amirnazmi, founder and president of Exton, Pennsylvania-based TranTech Consultants Inc. was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), three counts of violating IEEPA, three counts of making false statements to federal officials and three counts of bank fraud.
According to TranTech's website, Dr. Amirnazim is the inventor of ChemPlan, a database/software decision support system for the chemical process industry.
The Justice Department alleged that Amirnazmi, a citizen of the U.S. and Iran, participated in illegal business transactions with Iran between 1996 and 2008. Amirnazmi also allegedly engaged in investments with companies located in Iran, including a chemical company controlled in whole or in part by the government of Iran.
The jury convicted Amirnazmi of lying to the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) about business deals with Iran in an attempt to cover up that illegal activity. Amirnazmi also allegedly submitted false tax returns to several banks in order to secure loans for which he would not have qualified.
Amirnazmi faces a maximum sentence of 80 years in prison and a $4 million fine when he is sentenced later this year.
Labels: Sanctions; Iran
|posted by Douglas N. Jacobson| Permalink 
