LOS ANGELES
A Bel Air man was arrested Tuesday following a federal grand jury indictment accusing him, along with two Iranian nationals, of violating U.S. sanctions against Iran by illegally transferring approximately $2.4 million in digital and gift cards to the country, federal officials stated.
Kambiz Eghbali, 50, also known as “Cameron Eghbali,” a dual citizen of the United States and Iran, faces charges of violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Hamid Hajipour and Babak Bahizad, both Iranian nationals also named in the indictment, remain fugitives.
“Restrictions on exports and transactions with countries that are hostile to the United States, such as Iran, are critical to protecting our nation,” said U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada. “Nothing is more important than protecting our country from foreign threats and my office will continue to aggressively prosecute those who undermine our national security.”
According to an indictment unsealed Tuesday, Eghbali and his associates conspired to illegally send digital and physical gift cards to Iran from March 2014 to September 2019.
Eghbali used his North Hills-based video game distribution company as a front to sell the gift cards to Bahizad and Hajipour, who were associated with Iranian gaming and software companies.
Bahizad and Hajipour paid Eghbali for the cards using a complex scheme that involved transferring money from Iran through third-party accounts to conceal their transactions from U.S. regulators.
These transactions violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (ITSR), which impose restrictions on transactions with Iran due to its threats to U.S. national security, including its pursuit of nuclear weapons and support for terrorism.
The FBI is investigating this matter with support from Homeland Security Investigations.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anna Boylan and Mark Takla of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section are prosecuting this case with Trial Attorneys David J. Ryan and Leslie Esbrook from the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section.