MAN CONVICTED OF MONEY LAUNDERING, VIOLATING U.S. EMBARGO AGAINST IRAN

MAN CONVICTED OF MONEY LAUNDERING, VIOLATING U.S. EMBARGO AGAINST IRAN    The U.S. Customs Service said Mazyar Gavidel, 36, proprietor of a money transmitting business in New York, was convicted last week of money laundering conspiracy, money laundering, and violation of a U.S. embargo on trade with Iran.
   Gavidel, of Queens, N.Y., was convicted after a two-week trial in Manhattan federal court. The president and sole proprietor of Homa International Trading Corp., he laundered a total of approximately $400,000 in cash from an informant working at Customs. According to evidence at the trial, Gavidel was told the funds were proceeds of drug deals, and then agreed to wire the money to foreign bank accounts. Customs had supplied the funds as part of this investigation.
   More evidence at the trial showed that Gavidel and his company laundered more than $700,000 worth of actual drug proceeds for a money-laundering group associated with Colombian drug traffickers. Additionally, Gavidel used cash he was given to make structured purchases of more than $600,000 worth of U.S. Postal Service money orders, in violation of federal reporting requirements.
   Customs said Gavidel had also illegally transferred around $2 million to Iran through Dubai, United Arab Emirates, between 1998 and 2000. During that time, there was an embargo against trade with Iran, which prohibited all exports to Iran, including the services that Gavidel and his company provided.
   Gavidel faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each of the money laundering charges and the conspiracy charges in the indictment; and a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison on the structuring and Iran embargo charges.
   The maximum fine for each charge is $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss resulting from the crime. Homa faces a maximum fine of $500,000 on each charge.