Woman Arrested for Sanctions-Busting Weapons Deals

0:00It's April 21st. Welcome to U.S. News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story. A 44-year-old woman from Woodland Hills, California got arrested Saturday at Los Angeles International Airport while trying to catch a flight to Turkey. Shemim Maffi, who became a lawful U.S. permanent resident back in October 2016, faces charges for conspiring to break sanctions by, brokering huge weapons deals for the Iranian government. Executors say she helped set up sales of 55,000 bomb fuses to Sudan and massive ammo contracts up to 240 million rounds, plus talks on assault weapons. She allegedly used a front company in Oman and funnel payments through spots like Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to dodge U.S. rules, pocketing over 6 million euros in the process. Maffi was born in Iran in 1981, lived there until 2013, then moved to Istanbul before landing permanent status here.

1:01During the Obama years, officials are fired up, calling it a betrayal, acting Attorney-General Todd Blanche said this kind of national security threat won't fly and they'll prosecute hard. Investigators found she chatted with an officer from Iran's Ministry of Intelligence, and even admitted in interviews she'd be more useful to them. Outside the U.S., she skipped getting licenses from Treasury or State, straight up violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. She was set for her first court appearance Monday, no plea expected yet, and conviction could mean 20 years behind bars. The feds are doubling down on sanctions busts, like this to keep adversaries in check.