Wealthy Iranian businesswoman arrested at LAX for brokering arms deal for Islamic regime

44-year-old Shamim Mafi was taken into custody on Saturday night as she was boarding a flight to Turkey, according to First Assistant US Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli. Mafi is an Iranian national who became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2016 under the Obama administration.

Mafi is alleged to have brokered the sale of Iranian-manufactured weapons, including drones, bombs, bomb fuses, and ammunition, to Sudan in violation of US law, according to Essayli. Mafi was reportedly in contact with Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security and received funding to establish a business in the United States, which authorities say was used to facilitate the deals.

According to a report by the New York Post, one of the transactions involved a contract worth more than $70 million for Iranian-made Mohajer-6 armed drones tied to Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, with the drones ultimately transferred in deals with Sudan’s Ministry of Defense. Mafi used intermediaries and channels in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to conduct transactions and avoid detection by US authorities.

Additionally, Mafi appeared to have been living a lavish lifestyle, having posted photographs of herself around the world and in a $100,000 Mercedes Roadster. An investigation also found the Iranian government had seized properties Mafi inherited from her father and directed her to open a business in the United States in an effort to repurchase them.

Mafi is charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. She is scheduled to appear in a District Court in downtown Los Angeles on Monday.

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