72-Year-Old McLean Resident Sentenced For Violating Sanctions On Iran

MCLEAN, VA — A resident of McLean, who was born in Iran and is a naturalized U.S. citizen, has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for doing business in his home country in violation of sanctions imposed on Iran by the U.S. government.

U.S. District Judge Lydia Griggsby on Tuesday sentenced Behrouz Mokhtari, 72, of McLean to 41 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Mokhtari was accused of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran by conspiring to engage in prohibited business activities. Griggsby also ordered Mokhtari to forfeit about $2.8 million in proceeds from his business activity as well as a home he bought in Campbell, California, for more than $1.5 million.

Mokhtari pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economics Power Act.

Prosecutors accused Mokhtari of attempting to conceal his actions through his control of businesses and financial entities in Iran and the United Arab Emirates.

According to his guilty plea, Mokhtari conducted business from March 2018 to September 2020 on behalf of Iranian entities without first obtaining licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Mokhtari held management positions and maintained ownership control of multiple businesses in Iran and the United Arab Emirates, known as the FSR Network. Mokhtari and his business partners used the FSR Network to provide services to Iranian entities and engage in transactions involving Iranian petrochemical products, including refining petrochemical products and transporting them by sea, according to prosecutors.

Mokhtari and his business partners used bank accounts in the United Arab Emirates, including Bitubiz FZE. Mokhtari admitted that Bitubiz operated as a conduit for the FSR Network to conceal the fact that he and his business partners were providing services to Iranian entities in violation of the U.S. sanctions on Iran, according to prosecutors.

In a separate business arrangement that lasted from February 2013 to June 2017, Mokhtari and a number of Iranian citizens agreed to conduct shipments of petrochemical products to and from Iran, in violation of U.S. sanctions on Iran, and used the U.S. financial system to facilitate the shipments, prosecutors said.