Who Is Jamshid Ghomi? Tech Tycoon Arrested From Luxurious California Mansion For Selling US Equipment to Iran To Support Nuclear and Tech Program

A California tech executive accused of supplying U.S. technology to support Iran’s nuclear and military programs was arrested at his $35 million mansion and led away in handcuffs. Jamshid Ghomi, 63, a dual Iranian-U.S. citizen, spent over a decade selling advanced American networking, security and encryption equipment to the Iranian regime, prosecutors said.

Ghomi is charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The equipment was allegedly supplied to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the regime’s Ministry of Defense, according to the Department of Justice. He and his co-conspirators referred to Iran as ‘Motherland’ in their private messages and then started supplying the secret technology.

How It Happened

Between 2011 and 2015, Ghomi made more than 400 purchases through his eBay and PayPal accounts, with the transactions routed through intermediaries in the United Arab Emirates. More than 250 metric tons of networking equipment was allegedly smuggled into Iran between 2014 and 2018 through freight forwarders based in Dubai.

Ghomi is accused of using his company, Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh (FPR), to carry out the operation, with annual sales exceeding $10 million.

He told the IRS that the more than $15 million transferred from Iran into U.S. accounts was a foreign inheritance. Authorities allege the money was laundered through shell companies in the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Turkey and the UAE.

His federal tax returns showed little to no income, with the highest amount reported in a single year being just $20,684.

Ghomi claimed the Earned Income Tax Credit, a benefit for low-income earners, in seven different tax years, even as he allegedly used the proceeds of his crimes to build a sprawling mansion.

Spying Out Technology

The 14,000-square-foot home, shielded by iron gates, sits on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, according to the California Post. Ghomi bought the vacant lot for $4.49 million in March 2010 and then spent about $10.49 million constructing the residence over the following three years.

More than $7 million in foreign wire transfers flowed into the escrow account used for the construction between May 2011 and August 2015, according to the DOJ. The transfers were handled by the same FPR employees and carried the same false descriptions as the company’s sales revenue.

The affidavit mentions that Iran’s atomic agency, which was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2020 over enrichment violations, had FPR registered as an approved vendor in 2021 and 2022.

The company supplied Iran’s nuclear agency from 2017 to 2023 and the country’s defense ministry from 2014 to 2022.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said: “We will hold him accountable by seeking an appropriate prison sentence and by seizing his assets, including his $35 million Newport Beach mansion.”

Essayli said Ghomi was “aiding our declared enemies” and “doing business with one of the world’s largest state sponsors of terrorism.” Ghomi faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.