Alabama Man Guilty in Iran Flow Control Scheme

Alabama man Ray Hunt, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to export U.S.-origin goods to the Islamic Republic of Iran in violation of trade sanctions.

In January 2023 Hunt was indicted on 15 counts of conspiracy, unlawful export, smuggling and submitting false or misleading export information associated with sales of flow control items to Iran. 

Hunt, a naturalized US Citizen also known as Abdolrahman Hantoosh, is alleged to have conspired to export U.S.-origin parts used in the oil and gas industry, including control valves and oil tubing, through his Alabama-based company, Vega Tools LLC, to customers in Iran. The scheme transshipped the goods to Iran through Turkey and the UAE to evade U.S. sanctions.

The indictment reads like how-not-to for export compliance. In one case, Hunt allegedly misstated the valuation on a shipment by a factor of ten; in another he instructed his forwarder to change the declared value from $4,000 to $2,465.74, just below the $2,500 value threshold for an EEI filing requirement. “At no time did any person or entity apply for or obtain a required license from OFAC for the transactions alleged herein,” according to the charging documents.