POLITICS

US-Iranian Millionaire Exporting US Tech to Iran Finally Nailed for Creative Tax Filing

Newport Coast, California - Federal agents swooped in yesterday and arrested Jamshid Ghomi, a 63-year-old dual U.S.-Iranian citizen, right outside his palatial $35 million mansion in one of Orange County’s most exclusive zip codes. Not the decade-long scheme to funnel sophisticated American networking, security, and encryption gear straight to Iran’s military and nuclear weapons program. No - the feds finally got him for subverting taxes.

vlgr June 4, 2026 31 reads 2 min read

#IRAN #MIDDLE EAST #OPSEC #TURKEY #USA

According to the Department of Justice’s criminal complaint, Ghomi - CEO and founder of Tehran-based Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh Co. Ltd. (FPR), a thriving computer-networking empire - allegedly spent the better part of 2014 through 2023 playing the a game of hide-and-seek with U.S. sanctions.

He personally shipped more than 250 metric tons of premium U.S.-origin tech through front companies in Dubai. From there the goodies were quietly rerouted to Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL), its affiliated Iran Computer Industries, and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran itself.

Ghomi allegedly laundered over $15 million in Iranian proceeds through a globe-trotting money-go-round involving sanctioned banks, trading houses in the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Turkey, and the UAE.

The cash then magically appeared in his California accounts, allowing him to snap up that $35 million Newport Coast dream home.

Yet somehow, the part that finally triggered the FBI raid wasn’t the nuclear-adjacent shopping spree.

It was the tax returns.

Prosecutors say Ghomi had the audacity to list the millions as “inheritance” on his filings, report almost no income, claim low-income tax credits, and deduct a cool $1.7 million in mortgage interest on his seaside palace.

Neighbors in the gated community described Ghomi as “quiet,” and “always had the best Wi-Fi”.

The DOJ says Ghomi used eBay and PayPal accounts for more than 400 purchases from 2011 to 2015, which falls under Obama. It then says the 250+ metric tons smuggled into Iran happened from 2014 to 2018, split between Obama and Trump.

The DOJ also says FPR supplied U.S.-origin equipment to Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization from 2017 to 2023, which spans Trump and Biden, while a specific but unspecified 2023 purchase from U.S. suppliers happened under Biden.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran has reportedly updated its vendor list.

Few nations can match America’s gift for building an enemy, selling it the tools, declaring it an existential threat, and then discovering the paper trail only when someone tries to deduct the mansion, but EU is certainly trying.