Tina Chen, also known as Ya When Chen, Wen Tina Chen, Tina Dunbar, and Tina Dubner, was the owner of Top One Zone, LLC, a company exporting electronic and computer components from her residence in Las Vegas, Nevada. Between November 2015 and May 2019, Chen conspired with others to purchase goods from U.S.
In April 2023, Niloufar Bahadorifar, a 48-year-old resident of Irvine, California, was sentenced to four years in prison for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions against Iran and for structuring financial transactions. Bahadorifar provided financial services, including laundering money into the United States from Iran, which were used to pay private investigators to conduct surveillance on a prominent Iranian dissident residing in New York City.
In February 2020, Robert Thwaites, then 30 and residing in Dallas, Texas, was arrested alongside four others for conspiring to violate U.S. economic sanctions by attempting to purchase Iranian petroleum and sell it to a refinery in China. The group planned to use a Polish shell corporation to disguise the oil's origin and anticipated substantial profits, estimating approximately $28 million per month from two shipments. Additionally, Thwaites and a co-conspirator intended to obtain foreign passports to establish offshore accounts, thereby evading U.S.
In February 2020, Nicholas Hovan, then 33 and residing in New York, was arrested alongside four others for conspiring to violate U.S. economic sanctions by attempting to purchase Iranian petroleum and sell it to a refinery in China. The group planned to use a Polish shell corporation to disguise the oil's origin and anticipated substantial profits, estimating approximately $28 million per month from two shipments. On January 10, 2024, Hovan was convicted in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for violating 18 U.S.C. § 371 and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
In February 2020, Nicholas James Fuchs, then 26 and residing in Dallas, Texas, was arrested alongside four others for conspiring to violate U.S. economic sanctions by attempting to purchase Iranian petroleum and sell it to a refinery in China. The group planned to use a Polish shell corporation to disguise the oil's origin and aimed for substantial profits, anticipating approximately $28 million per month from two shipments. Additionally, Fuchs and a co-conspirator intended to obtain foreign passports to establish offshore accounts, thereby evading U.S.
Eye on Iran is a news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), a section 501(c)(3) organization. Eye on Iran is available to subscribers on a daily basis or weekly basis.