Federal prosecutors have alleged that Jamshid Ghomi, a 63-year-old technology manager from Orange County, spent years supplying U.S. equipment to Iran’s nuclear program and to entities linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Meanwhile, he enjoyed a comfortable life in Newport Coast, one of Orange County’s most exclusive enclaves.
The case exposes a blind spot in the way America thinks about national security.
Ghomi, a 63-year-old American and Iranian citizen, was taken into custody at his luxury ocean-view estate on charges of violating federal export controls, pulling back the curtain on what prosecutors describe as a highly coordinated exploitation of domestic trade pipelines.
According to the unsealed federal criminal complaintGhomi has quietly anchored a procurement network for Iran’s nuclear weapons program and its elite terrorist force for more than a decade.
The U.S. Department of Justice alleges the operation began in 2011 with purchases through personal eBay and PayPal accounts before expanding to direct relationships with U.S. suppliers.
Federal authorities also claim that more than 275 tons of corporate hardware was transported through the network between 2014 and 2018 alone. They also claim that Ghomi was negotiating direct purchases from US technology distributors as late as 2023.
The mechanisms described in the complaint were not particularly sophisticated. The hardware is said to have been routed through forwarders and intermediary companies in the United Arab Emirates. The shipping papers have changed. Commercial invoices have been removed.
Investigators say advanced U.S. components were hidden in larger shipments before moving on to Iran. Internal communications cited by prosecutors show that participants referred to Iran simply as the “Motherland.”
Federal authorities also allege that more than $15 million was transferred between 2011 and 2024 through offshore entities involved in the operation. indicates that Ghomi claimed earned the income tax credit for several years while living in a custom-built Newport Coast estate reportedly valued at $35 million.
The money linked to the operation is said to have passed through entities and accounts in the British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Turkey and the UAE before eventually reaching the United States.
Americans often associate hostile governments with cyber attacks, espionage operations and stolen secrets.
But the allegations against Ghomi describe something much more mundane: purchase orders, suppliers, freight companies, bills of lading and bank transfers.
Federal prosecutors have brought similar cases in the recent past.
CA post
In Houston, authorities charged a dual national accused of acquiring aircraft parts and aviation technology destined for Iran through intermediaries in the Gulf.
In another case in California, prosecutors alleged that advanced processors and communications equipment were purchased in the United States before being sent through third countries to customers in Iran.
The products were different. The companies were different. Still, the accusations followed a familiar pattern: U.S. technology is said to have moved through commercial supply chains before reaching customers who could not legally buy it directly.
Most immigrants come to the United States, build successful lives and contribute to the country. The vast majority never come close to an export control investigation or sanctions case.
Prosecutors allege that Ghomi maintained significant business ties in Iran while operating freely within the United States. Prosecutors say Ghomi lived, worked and prospered in Southern California while maintaining business interests tied to Iran.
The charges describe someone who was already established in the American economy, already doing business and already participating in ordinary commercial life.
Newport Coast is known for its ocean views, gated neighborhoods, and million-dollar homes. It’s not a place most people associate with Iran’s nuclear program. Yet prosecutors allege that part of a procurement network serving institutions connected to that program operated from there.
For a country that spends enormous resources keeping sensitive technology away from hostile regimes, that fact is hard to ignore.
Mr. Cohen is CEO of RealEye, a Tel Aviv-based security company.
