Major Export Enforcement Cases - Directorate of Defense Trade ...

Industrial Company (HESA), a military entity designated by the U.S. for its role in Iran’s nuclear
and ballistic missile program, as well as Iran Aircraft Industries (IACI). The three Mac Aviation
officers charged in the indictment, which was filed on July 22, 2008, are Thomas McGuinn, his
son, Sean McGuinn, and Sean Byrne. According to the indictment, the defendants purchased 17
aircraft engines from Rolls-Royce in Indiana and caused them to be exported to a publishing
company in Malaysia, and later shipped on to HESA in Iran. The indictment also alleges that the
defendants purchased 50 aircraft components known as “5 th Stage vanes” from the United States
and illegally exported them to Iran, and also obtained various U.S.-origin aircraft bolts, which
they routed through a trading company in the United Arab Emirates to Iran. The defendants are
alleged to have worked with Hossein Ali Khoshnevisrad and his Tehran business, Ariasa, AG, in
purchasing some of these components for Iran. Khoshnevisrad was arrested on March 14, 2009 in
San Francisco on federal export violations. This case was investigated by ICE and BIS.
Sensitive U.S. Technology to Iranian Missile & Nuclear Entities -- On March 20, 2009, Iranian
national and resident Majid Kakavand was arrested in France pursuant to a provisional U.S. arrest
warrant issued in the Northern District of California. An April 7, 2009 indictment charges
Kakavand and two co-defendants, Amir Gasemi and Alex Ramzi, with overseeing an
international network that allegedly purchased thousands of military and commercial items from
U.S. companies and illegally exported these goods to Iran via Malaysia. The alleged recipients of
these goods included two Iranian military entities designated by the United States for their role in
Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile program. According to court documents, Kakavand served as
a director of a company in Malaysia called Evertop Services Sdn Bhd, that he and others created
to procure goods from the United States and Europe for export to Iran. Gasemi was also a
director of Evertop Services, while Ramzi served as the purchasing supervisor. Evertop Services’
primary customers in Iran were two Iranian military entities, Iran Electronics Industry (IEI), and
Iran Communication Industries (ICI), both of which were designated in 2008 by the United States
for their role in Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Furthermore, IEI was listed by the
European Union as an entity linked to Iran’s proliferation-sensitive nuclear activities or Iran’s
development of nuclear weapon delivery systems. Using Evertop Services, Kakavand and his-codefendants
allegedly purchased products for Iran from U.S. companies in several states, including
California, Alabama, Florida, Washington, and New Jersey. Kakavand has allegedly exported
more than 30 shipments of goods from the United States to Iran since February 2006. These
shipments contained electronic and avionic components, including capacitors, spectrometers,
resistors, sensors, connectors, and airborne antennae. Kakavand allegedly concealed from the
U.S. companies that the ultimate end-users of these products were in Iran, and at no time did he
have a license to export or re-export goods to Iran. For example, in one transaction, Kakavand
allegedly purchased 41,900 radiall connectors from a company in California and, in January
2008, wired $51,425 to the firm as payment for the goods. The affidavit indicates that these
goods were exported from the United States to Evertop Services in Malaysia, then re-exported to
ICI in Iran. In other transactions spelled out in the affidavit, Kakavand used similar techniques to
illegally export sensors, inductors and other materials to Iran. On May 5, 2010, the U.S.
extradition request for Kakavand was denied by a French court. Kakavand was released by
French authorities and returned to Iran. This investigation was conducted by BIS and ICE.
Aircraft Engines and Advanced Surveillance Cameras to Iranian Military -- On March 14,
2009, Hossein Ali Khoshnevisrad, the general manager of Ariasa, AG in Tehran, Iran, and
Skylife Worldwide Sdn. Bhd, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was arrested in San Francisco pursuant
to a sealed criminal complaint charging him with purchasing helicopter engines and advanced
aerial cameras for fighter bombers from U.S. firms and illegally exporting them to Iran using
companies in Malaysia, Ireland and the Netherlands. Among the alleged recipients of these U.S.
goods was an Iranian military firm that has since been designated by the United States for being
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