The U.S. Commerce Department will pay up to $15 million for tips on Iranian businessman Hossein Hatefi Ardakani, who is alleged to have helped acquire technology for attack drones sold to Russia. The U.S. sanctioned and charged Ardakani, chair of an electronics company, over his alleged work sourcing dual use technology for drone production by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. iArdakani and co-defendant Gary Lam, who was based in China and Hong Kong, were charged in D.C. federal court with procuring microelectronics for the IRGC’s program from 2014 to 2015, according to court documents
The U.S. says Iran has supplied varieties of drones that Russia has used in its war against Ukraine.
According to the Treasury Department, Ardakani runs a transnational procurement network that has obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of servomotors, inertial navigation equipment and other technology that can be used in drones. U.S. origin procured by Ardakani’s network have been recovered in the wreckage of Iranian drones in Ukraine and elsewhere, the State Department said.
Jeffrey Newman Esq. and members of his firm represent whistleblowers under the False Claims Act and SEC, CFTC and FINCEN whistleblower programs. Persons providing original information to these agencies through counsel may receive rewards totaling up to 30 percent of a successful recovery made by the SEC, CFTC OR FINCEN and the names and identification of the whistleblowers are kept confidential. His firm also represents whistleblowers in healthcare fraud cases relating to Medicare of Medicaid. Attorney Newman can be reached at Jeff@Jeffnewmanlaw.com or at 617-823-3217
