Abdolrahman Hantoosh, known as “Ray Hunt,” a 70-year-old Iranian American resident of Alabama, confessed to illegally exporting industrial equipment to Iran two years after his arrest.
The U.S. Department of Justice announced in a statement that Hunt, who was charged and arrested in the fall of 2022 for defrauding the United States, violating sanctions, smuggling goods from the U.S., and providing false or misleading export information, now faces a long prison sentence and a $1 million fine for violating U.S. trade sanctions against Iran.
According to court documents, Hunt registered his company, Vega Tools, in Alabama in May 2014 and began working with two Iranian companies in 2015 to send equipment for use in Iran’s oil, gas, and petrochemical industries.
The court stated that during this period, Hunt used deceptive methods to conceal his activities, such as using intermediary companies in Turkey and the UAE and providing false information to U.S. authorities.
Hunt could face up to five years in prison for conspiracy charges. The federal judge will determine the final sentence after reviewing sentencing guidelines and other legal factors.
The Department of Justice, the Department of Commerce, and the FBI are still investigating his case.
The longstanding U.S. sanctions against the Iranian regime prohibit American companies from trading with the Iranian regime or investing in Iran’s energy sector, and violators face severe penalties.
