4 ms·

5 years sentence for buying an Iranian friend CPU board& servo stuff from eBay

17 points by ironmnn 5y ago

ironmnn 5y ago
"Arash Jam, Amin Jam, and Abdollah Momeni allegedly conspired with each other and others to obtain goods in the United States and export them to Iran. Specifically, the defendants are alleged to have conspired to fraudulently and knowingly export and send nine electrical discharge boards, one CPU board, two servo motors, and two railroad crankshafts from the United States to Iran in violation of economic sanctions. If convicted, the defendants face a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine on the export and smuggling violations, and 20 years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine on the money laundering violation." US Department of Justice Shameful.
- wkearney99 5y ago
  That they deliberately conspired to skirt sanctions? Shameful, indeed. One has already plead guilty. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/iranian-national-pleads-guilty-violating-us-sanctions-against-iran https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/iranian-national-pleads-guilt...
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - fitblipper 5y ago
    I dont know of guilt or innocence. I do know that any jail time alone is a huge penalty in the US where their ability to get a job will now be greatly impacted. The US also has harsher terms than any other nation in the world for the vast majority crimes. When I complain about this I often hear the "If you cant do the time don't do the crime", but mostly from ignorant people who are not experienced in what doing the time actually entails. For this crime 5 years feels harsh.
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  "fraudulently and knowingly export" Does this mean they knew they were breaking the law, or does it just mean they were not sleepwalking?
  - xbar 5y ago
    The former.
  - ironmnn 5y ago
    Breaking what law exactly? US law? None of these people were American. So, US governments has no authority over them, and in the countries they live, there is no ban on re-export. Also, quoting from the document: "The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) authorizes the President of the United States to deal with "unusual and extraordinary threat[s] ... to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States." Procuring railway parts is not a threat to national security. Abusing national security to threaten companies to deny essential spare parts for people's safety around the world is bigotry and not enforcing law.
- MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago
  Of all the allegations the justice department has stated, not one of them sounds like they had no idea what they were doing. They intentionally went through Canada, met with third parties for payments, and traveled to the UAE then to Iran to hide their tracks. If it's all true (seeing as one has plead guilty), that is more than enough evidence for a jury to convict them.
  - gruez 5y ago
    > Of all the allegations the justice department has stated, not one of them sounds like they had no idea what they were doing. They intentionally went through Canada, met with third parties for payments, and traveled to the UAE then to Iran to hide their tracks. Not to mention that the vendors they were in contact with told them that they can't sell them parts because the machine was in iran (as determined by serial number). Rather than taking a hint that maybe they shouldn't be doing what they're doing, they contacted more companies while omitting or supplying a fake serial number. Later on when they tried to ship the parts, they were told by several shipping companies that it was either not allowed, or required an OFAC license.
totalZero 5y ago
> nine electrical discharge boards, one CPU board, two servo motors, and two railroad crankshafts The title of this submission editorializes the content. Who buys two railroad crankshafts for their friend?
- tyingq 5y ago
  Indeed. The indictment is here: https://www.iranwatch.org/sites/default/files/indictment-of-arash-yousefi-jam-amin-yousefi-jam-and-abdollah-momeni-roustani.pdf https://www.iranwatch.org/sites/default/files/indictment-of-...
- ironmnn 5y ago
  The one has a friend in Iran in which needs spare parts for the railway that transports a lot of people, and lacking those spare parts can lead to a dangerous situation for his people. And, what about CPU board and servo motors? Do they deserve talking about? Or it is not possible to justify 5 years sentence for re-exporting such an ordinary stuff?
mellosouls 5y ago
Actual title: Three Charged with Illegally Exporting Goods to Iran
- ironmnn 5y ago
  Let's talk about what actually happened, and not the title that the US court choosed for making this case look a legitimate one.
  - mellosouls 5y ago
    https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Otherwise please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize.
weird-eye-issue 5y ago
The title is ridiculous, they didn't simply buy anything from ebay. They emailed dozens of companies to find ones that would buy their lies even after being told repeatedly they needed licenses due to sanctions. They gave incorrect serial numbers to hide the fact the machine was in Iran and told people the products were for Iraq and the UAE. The guy in Iran seems to have "accidentally" sent an extra $6000 from a bank in Turkey to have that laundered back to his friend through a check the company sent him as a refund. It's pretty bad and you should read the indictment: https://www.iranwatch.org/sites/default/files/indictment-of-arash-yousefi-jam-amin-yousefi-jam-and-abdollah-momeni-roustani.pdf https://www.iranwatch.org/sites/default/files/indictment-of-...
- ironmnn 5y ago
  The title is in fact correct, 5 years sentence for some guy who bought "CPU board& servo stuff and other railway parts. The court's decision is ridiculous. This is the response from Momeni, that insist that he was mostly focused on buying and selling regular stuff from eBay and Amazon, that had no dual-use, and he is not under US jurisdiction: https://www.eghtesadonline.com/fa/tiny/news-498359 https://www.eghtesadonline.com/fa/tiny/news-498359 US government can not forbid one from re-exporting goods from another country, citing internal regulations that are based on lies, damned lies! No, procuring railway parts is not a threat for any country's national security. At most, they can stop selling spare parts to one they don't want, although this poses danger to people's life in another country, if you care. Looking at the document, we see interesting stuff. The evidence -if true- comes from unlawfully intercepting emails from several people that are not American, nor live in the US. Probably by hacking or other illegal means. So, even the so-called evidence is disputed.
  - detaro 5y ago
    The link is to a press release about them being charged, so it doesn't make sense to talk about a sentence as if it happened.
    - ironmnn 5y ago

17 points by ironmnn 5y ago

"Arash Jam, Amin Jam, and Abdollah Momeni allegedly conspired with each other and others to obtain goods in the United States and export them to Iran. Specifically, the defendants are alleged to have conspired to fraudulently and knowingly export and send nine electrical discharge boards, one CPU board, two servo motors, and two railroad crankshafts from the United States to Iran in violation of economic sanctions. If convicted, the defendants face a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine on the export and smuggling violations, and 20 years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine on the money laundering violation." US Department of Justice Shameful.

wkearney99 5y ago
That they deliberately conspired to skirt sanctions? Shameful, indeed. One has already plead guilty. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/iranian-national-pleads-guilty-violating-us-sanctions-against-iran https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/iranian-national-pleads-guilt...
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- fitblipper 5y ago
  I dont know of guilt or innocence. I do know that any jail time alone is a huge penalty in the US where their ability to get a job will now be greatly impacted. The US also has harsher terms than any other nation in the world for the vast majority crimes. When I complain about this I often hear the "If you cant do the time don't do the crime", but mostly from ignorant people who are not experienced in what doing the time actually entails. For this crime 5 years feels harsh.
ClumsyPilot 5y ago
"fraudulently and knowingly export" Does this mean they knew they were breaking the law, or does it just mean they were not sleepwalking?
- xbar 5y ago
  The former.
- ironmnn 5y ago
  Breaking what law exactly? US law? None of these people were American. So, US governments has no authority over them, and in the countries they live, there is no ban on re-export. Also, quoting from the document: "The International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) authorizes the President of the United States to deal with "unusual and extraordinary threat[s] ... to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States." Procuring railway parts is not a threat to national security. Abusing national security to threaten companies to deny essential spare parts for people's safety around the world is bigotry and not enforcing law.
MeinBlutIstBlau 5y ago
Of all the allegations the justice department has stated, not one of them sounds like they had no idea what they were doing. They intentionally went through Canada, met with third parties for payments, and traveled to the UAE then to Iran to hide their tracks. If it's all true (seeing as one has plead guilty), that is more than enough evidence for a jury to convict them.
- gruez 5y ago
  > Of all the allegations the justice department has stated, not one of them sounds like they had no idea what they were doing. They intentionally went through Canada, met with third parties for payments, and traveled to the UAE then to Iran to hide their tracks. Not to mention that the vendors they were in contact with told them that they can't sell them parts because the machine was in iran (as determined by serial number). Rather than taking a hint that maybe they shouldn't be doing what they're doing, they contacted more companies while omitting or supplying a fake serial number. Later on when they tried to ship the parts, they were told by several shipping companies that it was either not allowed, or required an OFAC license.

totalZero 5y ago

> nine electrical discharge boards, one CPU board, two servo motors, and two railroad crankshafts The title of this submission editorializes the content. Who buys two railroad crankshafts for their friend?

tyingq 5y ago
Indeed. The indictment is here: https://www.iranwatch.org/sites/default/files/indictment-of-arash-yousefi-jam-amin-yousefi-jam-and-abdollah-momeni-roustani.pdf https://www.iranwatch.org/sites/default/files/indictment-of-...
ironmnn 5y ago
The one has a friend in Iran in which needs spare parts for the railway that transports a lot of people, and lacking those spare parts can lead to a dangerous situation for his people. And, what about CPU board and servo motors? Do they deserve talking about? Or it is not possible to justify 5 years sentence for re-exporting such an ordinary stuff?

mellosouls 5y ago

Actual title: Three Charged with Illegally Exporting Goods to Iran

ironmnn 5y ago
Let's talk about what actually happened, and not the title that the US court choosed for making this case look a legitimate one.
- mellosouls 5y ago
  https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html Otherwise please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize.

weird-eye-issue 5y ago

The title is ridiculous, they didn't simply buy anything from ebay. They emailed dozens of companies to find ones that would buy their lies even after being told repeatedly they needed licenses due to sanctions. They gave incorrect serial numbers to hide the fact the machine was in Iran and told people the products were for Iraq and the UAE. The guy in Iran seems to have "accidentally" sent an extra $6000 from a bank in Turkey to have that laundered back to his friend through a check the company sent him as a refund. It's pretty bad and you should read the indictment: https://www.iranwatch.org/sites/default/files/indictment-of-arash-yousefi-jam-amin-yousefi-jam-and-abdollah-momeni-roustani.pdf https://www.iranwatch.org/sites/default/files/indictment-of-...

ironmnn 5y ago
The title is in fact correct, 5 years sentence for some guy who bought "CPU board& servo stuff and other railway parts. The court's decision is ridiculous. This is the response from Momeni, that insist that he was mostly focused on buying and selling regular stuff from eBay and Amazon, that had no dual-use, and he is not under US jurisdiction: https://www.eghtesadonline.com/fa/tiny/news-498359 https://www.eghtesadonline.com/fa/tiny/news-498359 US government can not forbid one from re-exporting goods from another country, citing internal regulations that are based on lies, damned lies! No, procuring railway parts is not a threat for any country's national security. At most, they can stop selling spare parts to one they don't want, although this poses danger to people's life in another country, if you care. Looking at the document, we see interesting stuff. The evidence -if true- comes from unlawfully intercepting emails from several people that are not American, nor live in the US. Probably by hacking or other illegal means. So, even the so-called evidence is disputed.
- detaro 5y ago
  The link is to a press release about them being charged, so it doesn't make sense to talk about a sentence as if it happened.
  - ironmnn 5y ago