Broomall man convicted of selling to Iran items of military use

A Broomall man was convicted yesterday on federal charges that he defied U.S. sanctions against Iran by scheming to illegally export computers and other materials that could have had military applications to the country.

Prosecutors alleged that from 2002 to 2008, Mohammad Reza Vaghari bought goods - including laptops and sophisticated laboratory and medical equipment - from American firms, then shipped them to co-conspirators in Dubai who later delivered them to customers in Iran.

The co-conspirators then transferred $100,000 from the Iranian customers to a U.S. bank account controlled by Vaghari's company, Saamen Co., authorities said.

Trade with Iran is permitted only in limited circumstances, such as exporting agricultural or medical products, and shippers must first obtain a license from the U.S. Treasury Department. Vaghari did not have such a license and said he exported goods only to Dubai.

The feds said that some of the items had civilian and military applications and that Dubai is a "red flag" for exporters who want to circumvent trade sanctions with Iran. (Relations between the U.S. and Iran have been hostile since Islamic militants seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979.)

U.S. District Judge Jan DuBois set sentencing for June 3. Vaghari, 43, could face up to 97 months in federal prison under advisory sentencing guidelines.

Vaghari was convicted of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and of making false statements on a U.S. citizenship application in 2004. He was acquitted of an attempted violation of IEEPA and fraudulently obtaining a green card in 1998.

During closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Ouziel painted Vaghari, who testified in his own defense, as a scheming liar who tried to con the jury with "self-serving claims" that he was shipping goods to customers in Dubai.

Ouziel told jurors that when FBI agents searched Vaghari's Newtown Square apartment in December 2005, they found little evidence of financial records, customer accounts and only a few shipping invoices.

"You're not seeing them because this was not a legitimate business," she said. "It's a criminal business. When you're committing a crime, you don't keep records."

Defense attorney William DeStefano argued that the feds' case against Vaghari was weak.

"[Federal agents] trailed this guy off and on for three years and came up with a big fat zero," he said.

But the jury, which deliberated for more than six days, apparently believed otherwise.

DeStefano denied that any materials that made their way to Iran had military applications.

He said yesterday that he would likely file post-trial motions. Defense attorneys often file such motions to win a new trial or seek a different verdict.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nancy Winter asked DuBois to revoke Vaghari's bail yesterday, but the judge instead put him under 24-hour house arrest with electronic monitoring pending a bail hearing on Tuesday.

Mir Hossein Ghaemi, 44, of Edgewood, Md., also was charged in the case. He pleaded guilty in November to a misdemeanor, copyright infringement, and is to be sentenced next month.

Vaghari is the second area resident in recent years to be charged and convicted of violating trade sanctions with Iran.

In January 2010, Ali Amirnazmi, a consultant formerly living in Berwyn, was sentenced on similar charges to four years in a federal lockup.