An Iranian national pleaded guilty on Friday to engaging in a plot to export sensitive technology to Iran in violation of multiple sanctions, according to the Justice Department.
Negar Ghodskani appeared in court and issued a guilty plea in what federal investigators called "a conspiracy to illegally export controlled technology from the United States to Iran."
"From 2008 until late 2011, Ghodskani was a Tehran-based employee of Fanavar Moj Khavar (Fana Moj), a company located in Tehran, Iran," according to the Justice Department. "In 2009, Ghodskani, along with co-defendant Alireza Jalali and others, established Green Wave Telecommunication, Sdn Bhn, (Green Wave), a company located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that operated as a front for Fana Moj."
"As part of the conspiracy, Ghodskani falsely represented herself as an employee of Green Wave to U.S. companies in order to acquire export-controlled technology from the United States," the DOJ said. "To accomplish these acquisitions, Ghodskani, Jalali and others concealed the ultimate destination and end users of the exported technology."
The Iranian national is said to have "contacted producers and distributors of the sought-after technology, solicited purchase agreements, and negotiated the purchase and delivery of the goods with the U.S. seller," according to the DOJ. "When received by Green Wave in Malaysia, the goods were repackaged and unlawfully exported from Malaysia to Fana Moj in Tehran, Iran."
"In 2017, Fana Moj was designated by the United States Department of the Treasury as a Specially Designated National for providing financial, material, technological or other support for, or goods or services in support of, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)."
The plot was exposed as the result of a joint investigation conducted by the FBI, the Department of Commence, and the Department of Homeland Security.