Newport Coast Tech CEO’s Home to be Seized by Feds

A $35 million Newport Coast mansion is set to be seized by the federal government after the arrest of an Iranian American tech CEO.

On Wednesday, acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the arrest of dual U.S.-Iranian citizen Jamshid Ghomi on accusations of aiding Iran’s nuclear and military programs, Forbes reported. Authorities plan to seize his assets, including his $35 million mansion at 31 High Water in Newport Coast’s exclusive Crystal Cove gated community, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement.

The construction of the roughly 14,000-square-foot mansion in question was allegedly funded by Ghomi’s sanctions-evasion scheme. Ghomi is accused of violating U.S. sanctions by supplying American networking, security and encryption equipment to customers in Iran, including organizations linked to Iran’s nuclear and military efforts. The Newport Coast resident has been charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a law allowing the U.S. president to freeze foreign assets during a national emergency.

Prosecutors claim Ghomi has been running a scheme through his Tehran-based company, Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh, to acquire U.S.-made technology and funnel it to Iran through middlemen in the United Arab Emirates. Authorities say he was able to hide the sales and avoid sanctions using front companies and falsified shipping records, among other tactics.

The tech exec purchased a vacant lot in Crystal Cove in March 2010 for nearly $4.5 million and spent nearly $10.5 million between 2010 and 2013 to build the current home at the site. Between May 2011 and August 2015, foreign-source wires totaling more than $7 million came into the escrow account funding the seven-bedroom home’s construction, Forbes reported. Those wires allegedly came from many of the same trading companies as transfers from Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh’s operating account, were handled by the same employees and had the same false descriptions, according to prosecutors.

Faraz Pardaz Rayaneh reportedly sold equipment to hundreds of customers in the country, including Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization from 2017 to 2023 and Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics between 2014 and 2022. In total, Ghomi allegedly earned millions from these sales and laundered more than $15 million in U.S. bank accounts and a construction escrow account while falsely reporting the money as foreign inheritance and reporting almost no income on his federal tax returns.

Ghomi faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

— Chris Malone Méndez