A suspected Belgian arms dealer pleaded not guilty in a federal courtroom here Thursday to charges he sought to smuggle fighter jet engines and parts to Iran.
By AFP
Expatica.com
MOBILE - Clad in a prison uniform, Jacques Monsieur, 56, spoke only once to confirm that his name had been pronounced correctly.
His lawyer Arthur Madden entered not guilty pleas to all the charges against him, including six counts of smuggling, conspiracy, money laundering, and violating weapons trafficking laws and export controls in relation to a US trade embargo on Iran.
Monsieur was indicted by a federal grand jury last month after being arrested in a New York airport. An alleged co-conspirator in the case, Dara Fotouhi, 54, is still at large, according to the Justice Department.
Both Monsieur and Fotouhi are French residents, and Fotouhi, an Iranian national, is suspected of working for the Iranian government.
The indictment against Monsieur says he contacted an undercover agent in February seeking to buy engines for the F-5 fighter or C-130 military transport aircraft to export to Iran.
The J85-21 model jet engines can be used to replace the motors in the F-5 fighter that was sold to Iran by the United States before the two countries cut ties after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.
Today, they are on a US list barring their export from the United States without a special permit. It is also illegal to export them to Iran without an additional license from the US Treasury Department....(Remainder.)
By AFP
Expatica.com
MOBILE - Clad in a prison uniform, Jacques Monsieur, 56, spoke only once to confirm that his name had been pronounced correctly.
His lawyer Arthur Madden entered not guilty pleas to all the charges against him, including six counts of smuggling, conspiracy, money laundering, and violating weapons trafficking laws and export controls in relation to a US trade embargo on Iran.
Monsieur was indicted by a federal grand jury last month after being arrested in a New York airport. An alleged co-conspirator in the case, Dara Fotouhi, 54, is still at large, according to the Justice Department.
Both Monsieur and Fotouhi are French residents, and Fotouhi, an Iranian national, is suspected of working for the Iranian government.
The indictment against Monsieur says he contacted an undercover agent in February seeking to buy engines for the F-5 fighter or C-130 military transport aircraft to export to Iran.
The J85-21 model jet engines can be used to replace the motors in the F-5 fighter that was sold to Iran by the United States before the two countries cut ties after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.
Today, they are on a US list barring their export from the United States without a special permit. It is also illegal to export them to Iran without an additional license from the US Treasury Department....(Remainder.)
