Source: City News Service
SAN DIEGO – A father and son who emigrated to the United States from Iran were charged in federal court in San Diego Thursday with scheming to export goods to their native country in violation of U.S. economic sanctions.
Hassan Rafiee, 58, and 24-year-old Idin Rafiee allegedly conspired with a third co-defendant, Majid Nouri Katy, 41, to unlawfully procure more than $8 million worth of products — primarily cooling equipment — for customers in Iran without obtaining required approval from the U.S. Treasury Department.
The International Emergency Economic Powers Act and a series of presidential executive orders prohibit, with limited exceptions, exporting, selling and supplying goods, technology or services to Iran, or facilitating such transactions.
A federal indictment accuses the defendants, who are U.S. citizens, of using two companies they operate in San Diego and Iran to carry out the “multi-year conspiracy,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
In January, Department of Homeland Security agents arrested the Rafiees, who live in San Diego, and Nouri, a Katy, Texas, resident who also came to the United States from Iran.
The Rafiees have each been released on a $100,000 bond secured by property, home detention and GPS monitoring. Their next court hearing is scheduled for March 7.
Nouri is expected to make his initial appearance before a federal judge in San Diego on Tuesday.
