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Ex-TVA executive pleads guilty to sending money to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions
http://timesfreepress.com/news/2013/sep/05/ex-tva-executive-pleads-guilty/
Ex-TVA executive pleads guilty to sending money to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions
by Dave Flessner
Thursday, September 5th, 2013
The former head of one of America's biggest nuclear power construction programs admitted Wednesday that he illegally sent money to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.
Masoud Bajestani, the Iranian-born nuclear engineer who previously served as a TVA vice president in charge of finishing the Unit 2 reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, agreed to forfeit the $600,000 authorities said he illegally sent to Iran from 2008 to 2010. Bajestani now faces up to five years in prison for violating U.S. sanctions imposed after Iran refused to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
Bajestani pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and two counts of filing false income tax returns. He was arrested in December 2012 when he returned from a visit to Iran and was subsequently charged with 11 counts of illegal money shipments and tax payments. Bajestani previously had pleaded not guilty to the charges, which could have cost him penalties of up to $1.25 million and up to 20 years in prison.
Bajestani, who once owned a $330,000 house in Apison where he lived with his second wife, was in charge of TVA's initial $2.5 billion completion project for the Unit 2 reactor at TVA's Watts Bar Nuclear Plant. The 58-year-old vice president was fired in 2011 for lying about a financial hardship he claimed to get an early withdrawal of $1.5 million from his TVA deferred compensation account.
<snip>
Ex-TVA executive pleads guilty to sending money to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions
by Dave Flessner
Thursday, September 5th, 2013
The former head of one of America's biggest nuclear power construction programs admitted Wednesday that he illegally sent money to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.
Masoud Bajestani, the Iranian-born nuclear engineer who previously served as a TVA vice president in charge of finishing the Unit 2 reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, agreed to forfeit the $600,000 authorities said he illegally sent to Iran from 2008 to 2010. Bajestani now faces up to five years in prison for violating U.S. sanctions imposed after Iran refused to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
Bajestani pleaded guilty Wednesday to a single count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and two counts of filing false income tax returns. He was arrested in December 2012 when he returned from a visit to Iran and was subsequently charged with 11 counts of illegal money shipments and tax payments. Bajestani previously had pleaded not guilty to the charges, which could have cost him penalties of up to $1.25 million and up to 20 years in prison.
Bajestani, who once owned a $330,000 house in Apison where he lived with his second wife, was in charge of TVA's initial $2.5 billion completion project for the Unit 2 reactor at TVA's Watts Bar Nuclear Plant. The 58-year-old vice president was fired in 2011 for lying about a financial hardship he claimed to get an early withdrawal of $1.5 million from his TVA deferred compensation account.
<snip>
Via http://www.nucpros.com/content/ex-tva-executive-pleads-guilty-sending-money-iran-violation-us-sanctions
