Irish company charged with shippping parts to Iran

In a federal court, the US Justice Department has charged an Irish company with procuring aircraft parts and exporting them to Iran. The charges which were read in court on Tuesday relate to transactions dating back to 2005. The company concerned is Sligo based Mac Aviation which it is alleged, accepted purchase orders from Iranian companies for aircraft engines and parts, procured the parts and shipped the consignments through third parties in Malayasia before ending up in Iran. The indictments contain a total of 19 charges relating to violating US law, making false statements and faking documents against three individuals, namely 72 year old Tom Guinn, owner of Mac Aviation, his son Sean McGuinn, the company's sales director and Sean Byrne the commercial manager. In one incident the company is alleged to have purchased $4.27m worth of helicopter engines from Rolls Royce in Indiana and told RR that the parts were not intended for military use. The Justice Department contend however that these parts were intended for an Iranian company under the control of the military.

The charges come one week after a 55 year old Iranian man was charged in a San Fransisco court with attempting to procure helicopter engines and military grade surveillance cameras for shipment to Iran. If convicted he faces up to 65 years in prison.