The owner of the Istanbul-based Turkish business Ramor Dis Ticaret Ltd. (Ramor Group) was sentenced in Federal District Court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to 27 months imprisonment in connection with his conviction for conspiracy to violate US sanctions by exporting specialized marine equipment from the US to Iran between 2013 to 2015.
On 2 April 2019, Resit Tavan, a Turkish citizen, had pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to violate US sanctions on Iran under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by using his Turkish based company, to acquire a range of marine related equipment that had been manufactured in Wisconsin by US companies.
This equipment included high powered outboard engines, marine power generators and power boat propulsion equipment known as surface drives, on behalf of the Iran-based Qeshm Madkandalou Shipbuilding Cooperative.
Evidence introduced in Court showed that Tavan had worked in cooperation with Iranian officers associated with Madkandalou to use some of this US origin marine equipment to support the construction and development of a prototype high-speed missile attack boat for the Iranian military or naval forces, the US Department of Justice informed.
From early 2013 through 2015, Tavan and the Ramor Group had worked in concert with Iranian officials to procure US origin marine equipment and illegally export it to Iran by using the Ramor Group in Turkey to receive the goods and thereafter re-export it to Madkandalou in Iran, in violation of US sanctions.
At the sentencing hearing, the District Court Judge indicated that this conspiracy to violate US sanctions by procuring marine equipment for military purposes represented a serious threat to US national security.
The Judge also found that Tavan’s role in the offense should be considered in connection with the overall direction and control of the project by higher ranking Iranian officials.
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