Iranian Man Extradited to Seattle After Decade-Long Pursuit Over Military Equipment Smuggling Scheme

At the heart of the case is a scheme prosecutors say Dindar ran between 2010 and 2014 through a China-based front company called New Port Sourcing Solutions. The company, which Dindar managed, purchased American goods while concealing that the true end users were Iranian entities. By presenting the transactions as legitimate Chinese commercial purchases, the scheme was designed to slip past the US sanctions regime that has prohibited the export of goods, technology, and services to Iran since the mid-1990s.

The most serious alleged conduct involves military sonar equipment. In 2011 and 2012, prosecutors say Dindar and his co-conspirators approached a Washington state business and purchased components for three military sonar systems, telling the seller the parts were bound for China. The actual plan, according to the indictment, was to move the equipment through China and into Iran, placing sensitive American defense technology in the hands of a sanctioned government.

The case sat dormant for years while Dindar remained overseas and beyond reach. That changed last summer when Panamanian authorities arrested him, and US officials spent the following months working through extradition proceedings to bring him back. First Assistant US Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said the outcome should send a clear message about the limits of using intermediary countries to circumvent American law. “The members of this conspiracy thought they could evade export restrictions by shipping goods through a third country, in this case China,” Floyd said. “But law enforcement uncovered the scheme, and the grand jury returned the indictment leading to the appearance today.”

Dindar now faces charges of conspiracy, exporting to an embargoed country, smuggling goods from the United States, money laundering tied to $97,600 used to purchase the equipment, and filing false export records. A conviction on all counts could result in up to 20 years in prison.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Todd Greenberg and investigated by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security and Homeland Security Investigations, with support from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Panamanian authorities.