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Iranian businessman pleads guilty to Iran deal in U.S.
A Vancouver businessman has pleaded guilty in Texas to a charge under American law banning trade with Iran, and could be sentenced to up to five years in a U.S. prison and a $250,000 fine.
Farshid Rohani's lawyer, Kurt May, told CBC News that his client agreed to the guilty plea in exchange for authorities dropping more serious charges punishable by 20 years in jail.
Rohani, 44, also known as Seyed Abolghassen Rohani Eftekhari, was arrested in San Antonio in September after trying to buy a $72,000 piece of equipment that tests for defects in pipes and other metal structures. He has been in jail ever since.
Authorities say he was the middleman in a deal between an engineering company in Iran and a supplier in Texas.
When Rohani flew to San Antonio in September for training on the device, he was arrested by police acting on a tip from the equipment supplier.
The U.S. has banned exports to Iran for almost 20 years under a law that declares trade with the Mideast country a threat to U.S. national security.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Rohani's guilty plea acknowledges the money for the purchase came from an Iranian company, and that the device may have ended up in Iran.
Court records in B.C. show Rohani, a management executive of a Vancouver-based company called Sutcast Foundry Technologies, has had financial troubles. His bank seized one of his properties after he failed to make payments.
Farshid Rohani's lawyer, Kurt May, told CBC News that his client agreed to the guilty plea in exchange for authorities dropping more serious charges punishable by 20 years in jail.
Rohani, 44, also known as Seyed Abolghassen Rohani Eftekhari, was arrested in San Antonio in September after trying to buy a $72,000 piece of equipment that tests for defects in pipes and other metal structures. He has been in jail ever since.
Authorities say he was the middleman in a deal between an engineering company in Iran and a supplier in Texas.
When Rohani flew to San Antonio in September for training on the device, he was arrested by police acting on a tip from the equipment supplier.
The U.S. has banned exports to Iran for almost 20 years under a law that declares trade with the Mideast country a threat to U.S. national security.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Rohani's guilty plea acknowledges the money for the purchase came from an Iranian company, and that the device may have ended up in Iran.
Court records in B.C. show Rohani, a management executive of a Vancouver-based company called Sutcast Foundry Technologies, has had financial troubles. His bank seized one of his properties after he failed to make payments.
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