Parkville Man Indicted In Plot To Export Goods, Services To Iran

A Parkville man is charged with conspiring to export US manufactured goods and services to Iran, in violation of the Iran Trade Embargo.

A federal grand jury indicted 32-year-old Ali Saboonchi a U.S. citizen and Parkville resident on charges of conspiring to export, and exporting, American manufactured industrial products and services to Iran on Mar. 4 and unsealed Mar. 7, following Saboonchi's arrest, according to a news release from the office of US States Attorney for Maryland, Rod J. Rosenstein. 

If convicted, Saboonchi faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for the conspiracy charge and for each of four counts of illega export to an embargoed country, the release states.

Saboonchi's initial appearance in at the U.S. District Court was scheduled for Mar. 7 and he is detained pending a detention hearing scheduled for 2 p.m. Mar. 13 at the District Court in Greenbelt, the release states.

The five count indictment alleges that Saboonchi conspired with an Iranian citizen, Arash Rashti Mohammad, to export US manufactured goods and services to Iran through his company Ace Electric Company from Nov. 2009 to the present.

A copy of the indictment against Saboonchi is attached to this article.

According to the indictment Saboonichi allegedly took purchasing orders from Rashti and routed them to co-conspirators in the United Arab Emirates and China, where Rashti would arrange them to be sent to customers within Iran. 

Items delivered, according to the release, allegedly include:

• two cyclone separators, used in pipelines to separate impurities such as sand from liquids, for $2,114.53;
• six thermocouples, used to measure temperatures of liquids and gasses in chemical and petrochemical fields, for $1,284;
• 10 stainless steel filter elements, used primarily in the oil and gas industry and can be used in water plants, hydrocarbon plants and nuclear plants, for $151.53;
• four bypass filters, for $1,911.03;
• three flow meters, used primarily in industrial applications to measure the flow of water but could be adjusted to measure other liquids and gasses, for $6,224.88;
• three actuator springs, used to control the flow rate of a liquid, for $112.07;
• numerous industrial parts, including hydraulic valves and connectors, for $7,067; and
• liquid pumps and valves, which have oil, gas, energy, aerospace and defense applications, for $2,320.48.