Four U.S. Citizens Charged in Plot to Sell Iranian Oil
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Wednesday that it has charged four U.S. citizens in connection with a conspiracy to sell Iranian oil.
Nicholas Hoan, 34, from New York, Genev Wang, 39, Robert Twoits, 30, and Daniel Rylinn, 39, all from Texas, are accused of conspiring to sell Iranian oil to China and reap millions of dollars in profits.
John Demers, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, and William McSwain, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, announced that these individuals are charged with conspiracy, violating Iranian oil sanctions, and money laundering by facilitating the sale of Islamic Republic oil to a refinery in China.
According to the report, the four accused conspired to help Iran circumvent Iranian oil sanctions by using shell companies, resorting to bribery and forged documents to conceal their illegal activities.
The statement says the United States will use all available tools to discover and prevent individuals from violating American sanctions, as such actions strike at U.S. national security.
The United States withdrew from the JCPOA in May 2018 and imposed strict sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Since May of last year, the U.S. has suspended sanctions exemptions for Iranian oil imports. According to reports by international organizations and ship-tracking companies, Iran’s daily oil exports have plummeted from 2.5 million barrels to below 300,000 barrels, with the bulk heading to China and Syria.
Meanwhile, the ship-tracking company Tankers Trackers recently reported that Iranian oil exports are likely double what international organizations and companies estimate.
The report released images of 16 tankers covertly transferring Iranian oil to other vessels in the seas and oceans and heading to international markets. Reports suggest Iran is selling some of its oil to China under the names of countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
The United States has so far added dozens of companies, tankers, and foreign nationals to its blacklist in connection with violations of Iranian oil sanctions.
Mr. McSwain stated that the actions of these four U.S. citizens amount to obtaining wealth at the expense of disrespecting the national and security interests of the United States. He severely criticized these four U.S. citizens’ efforts to help China and Iran violate American sanctions.
Based on the indictment text, these individuals conspired between May 2019 (when the U.S. suspended oil exemptions for Iranian customers) through February 2020 in Philadelphia and other areas to purchase Iranian oil and sell it to China.
According to the report, the individuals sought to conceal the source and origin of the oil being sold to China using shell companies, forged documents, and bribes, and to hide the source of their profits from these transactions through shell companies, by obtaining passports from Antigua and Barbuda (located in the eastern Caribbean) and by using Swiss banks, and to engage in money laundering.
The report states that the mentioned individuals were arrested in February of this year. These individuals had planned to sell two monthly shipments of Iranian oil with each shipment generating profits of $28 million.
These individuals could face up to 45 years in prison.
Source: Radio Farda
