Crime & Safety
Potomac Man Punished For Helping Iran Launch Satellite
Federal prosecutors: Nader Modanlo will have to forfeit $10 million he made in the deal.
A Potomac man was sentenced to eight years in prison for helping Iran put its first-ever satellite in orbit, the U.S. Attorneys' Office announced last week.
Nader Modanlo will also have to give back the $10 million he made in the deal, the U.S. Attorneys' Office said in a news release.
Modanlo was tried in federal court for violating the Iran trade embargo of 1995 and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. He also was charged with money laundering and obstructing bankruptcy proceedings, Patch has reported.
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The conviction caps a decade-long investigation into a conspiracy that led to the launch of an Iranian earth observation satellite from Russia in 2005.
According to information from the U.S. Attorneys’ office, Modanlo was a mechanical engineer with degrees from George Washington University.
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His company in Maryland brokered the deal between Iran and a Russian aerospace firm to build the satellite. As a result, $10 million funneled to his company's account in Bowie, MD.
Modanlo’s attorney told The Gazette that they were considering an appeal.
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