The indictment updated allegations filed in July 2008, which then
charged Mac Aviation with 25 counts. The two additional counts pertained to charges of
exporting F-5 parts from an unidentified U.S. company to Iran.
Since 2005, Mac Aviation was said to have solicited orders for U.S.
aircraft engines and parts for Iran. The indictment cited such parts as
helicopter engines, aircraft bolts and vanes, as well as canopy panels for
the F-5, a staple of the Iranian Air Force since the late 1970s.
"The defendants wired money to banks in the U.S. as payment for these
parts and concealed from U.S. sellers the ultimate end-use and end-users of
the purchased parts," the Justice Department said.
From 2005 through 2006, Mac Aviation and its officers were alleged to
have exported F-5 canopy panels to Iran. The F-5 panels were listed
on shipping manifests as headed for Nigeria.
"Instead, the panels were sold by the defendants to Sasadja Moavanate
Bazargani, in Teheran, Iran for $86,400," the Justice Department said. "The
purchase was arranged through the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial
Company, known by its Iranian acronym as HESA."
HESA, controlled by the Iranian Defense Ministry, came under U.S.
sanctions in 2008. The Iranian company was said to procure supplies for the
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Mac Aviation and the McGuinns, who face up to 20 years in jail, were
also charged with purchasing 17 helicopter engines from Indiana-based Rolls Royce Corp. for $4.27 million. The purchase was said to have been made through
an Iranian company and destined to HESA.
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