US NEWS
Arms Dealer Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy To Supply Fighter Jet Engines To Iran
2009-11-25 11:24am
A Belgian national suspected of international arms dealing for decades, Jacques Monsieur, has pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama to conspiracy to illegally export F-5 fighter jet engines and parts from the Untied States to Iran.
Monsieur along with Dara Fotouhi, aka Dara Fatouhi, an Iranian national currently living in France, was charged in a six-count indictment returned on Aug. 27, 2009, with conspiracy, money laundering, smuggling, as well as violations of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
Monsieur was arrested by federal agents in August 2009 upon his arrival in New York. Fotouhi remains at large.
According to Monsieur's factual proffer and the documents filed in court, Monsieur, along with his co-conspirator Fotouhi, are experienced arms dealers who have been actively working with the Iranian government to procure military items for the Iranian government.
In February 2009, Monsieur contacted an undercover agent seeking engines for the F-5 (EIF) fighter jet and the C-130 military transport aircraft for export to Iran. Thereafter, Monsieur began having regular e-mail contact with the undercover agent regarding the requested F-5 engines and parts.
These engines, known as J85-21 models, are replacement engines for the F-5 fighter jet that was sold to Iran by the United States before the 1979 Iranian revolution. The engines and parts are designated as defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List and may not be exported from the United States without a license from the U.S. State Department. Additionally, these items may not be exported to Iran without a license from the U.S. Treasury Department due to the U.S. trade embargo on Iran.
In May 2009, an undercover agent met with Monsieur where Monsieur introduced Fotouhi as a business associate, and again discussed the illegal export of F-5 fighter jet engines from the United States to Iran. During this negotiation, Monsieur asked the undercover agent if he could obtain or use U.S. shipping or export authorization documents that falsely indicated that the end user of the items would be located in Colombia.
In June 2009, Monsieur sent an e-mail to the undercover agent and provided a purchase order for F-5 fighter jet parts from a front company for an organization known as Trast Aero Space, located in Kyrgyzstan. The order requested that the parts be located by the undercover agent and illegally exported to the United Arab Emirates for the transshipment to Iran.
The following month, Monsieur contacted the undercover agent indicating that approximately $110,000 had been wired from Dubai to a bank account in Alabama as payment for the parts. He also indicated that a deposit of $300,000 would be forthcoming as a down payment for two F-5 fighter jet engines. In August 2009, Monsieur requested information from the undercover agent about his contact in Colombia for forwarding the aircraft parts from Colombia to the United Arab Emirates.
"Today's plea underscores the threat posed by Iranian procurement networks and the international arms traffickers who help supply them," said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. "I applaud the many agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service who worked tirelessly to bring about this important case."
Monsieur faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000.00 fine.
(C) NewsRoom 2009