Aiotec GmbH

Aiotec GmbH, a Berlin-based industrial equipment sourcing company, has agreed to pay $14.55 million to settle its potential civil liability for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran. Between 2015 and 2019, Aiotec conspired to purchase a decommissioned polypropylene plant in Australia from a U.S. company and then illegally reexport it to Iran through false documentation and deception. Aiotec misrepresented to the U.S. seller that the plant was intended for use in Turkey, while secretly reselling it to an Iranian petrochemical company with ties to Iran’s sanctioned Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company (PGPIC), which financially supports the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Despite repeated warnings from the U.S. seller about export restrictions, Aiotec falsified shipping records, concealed Iran as the destination, and laundered payments through U.S. financial institutions, violating the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR). OFAC determined that Aiotec's actions were egregious and not voluntarily self-disclosed, resulting in the $14.55 million penalty, with $9.55 million suspended pending compliance improvements.