HUNTSVILLE — A Madison County man was arrested Tuesday on federal offenses related to an illegal scheme to export U.S.-origin goods to Iran.
A 15-count U.S. Department of Justice indictment charges Ray Hunt, 69, with conspiracy to defraud the United States, sanctions violations, smuggling goods from the United States and submitting false or misleading export information.
Hunt was arrested and made his initial court appearance Tuesday, the department said in its news release. If convicted, Hunt faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison and up to a $1 million fine for violating U.S. trade sanctions against Iran.
In addition, he faces up to five years for the conspiracy charge, 10 years for the smuggling offense and up to five years for the false information offense. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, the news release said.
Hunt, according to the indictment unsealed Tuesday, is an Iranian-born, naturalized U.S. citizen also known as Abdolrahman Hantoosh, Rahman Hantoosh, and Rahman Natoosh.
“In or about 2015 and continuing to the present,” the indictment reads, Hunt conspired to export U.S.-origin parts used in the oil and gas industry, including control valves and oil tubing, through his company, Vega Tools LLC, to customers in Iran. The company’s address is 5332 Alabama 53 in Harvest.
Hunt allegedly transshipped the goods to Iran through Turkey and the UAE to evade U.S. sanctions, the Justice Department said.
The indictment can be read here.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona for the Northern District of Alabama and Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Carson of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security, Office of Export Enforcement Miami Office made the announcement.
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security investigated the case in coordination with the FBI.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Henry Cornelius and Jack Harrington for the Northern District of Alabama and trial attorneys Emma Dinan Ellenrieder and Adam P. Barry of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.
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