US arrests Belgian man on charges he tried to buy fighter engines for Iran

US says Belgian man broke Iran arms embargo

WASHINGTON — A Belgian man has been arrested for trying to purchase fighter jet engines and other parts for Iran in violation of the U.S. trade embargo on that country.

Justice Department officials said Wednesday that Jacques Monsieur, a citizen of Belgium and a resident of France, was taken into custody Friday in New York on charges he conspired with an Iranian, Dara Fotouhi, to buy engines and parts for the F-5 fighter jet.

Prosecutors charged that the pair are experienced arms dealers who have been working with the Iranian government to obtain military items.

Under the terms of the U.S. trade embargo with Iran, such items may not be exported there without express permission from the U.S. government.

Authorities say Monsieur contacted a person he thought could supply him with the jet engines and parts, but the contact actually was an undercover investigator. Monsieur allegedly planned to hide the engines’ true destination by claiming they were being sent to Colombia instead of Iran.

In July, according to court papers, Monsieur contacted an undercover agent offering $110,000 for jet parts and a $300,000 down payment for two of the fighter jet engines.

A six-count indictment filed in federal court in Mobile, Ala., charges the two suspects with smuggling, money laundering, violating the Arms Export Control Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

If convicted of the most serious charge, the suspects face a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison. Fotouhi is living in France.

The sheriff’s office in Baldwin County, Ala., confirmed Jacques Monsieur is being held there but declined further comment.

Monsieur appeared in federal court in Mobile for a brief hearing on Wednesday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Katherine Nelson ordered him held until an arraignment hearing tentatively set for Sept. 10 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bert W. Milling Jr.

The F-5 fighter was developed in the late 1950s as a small, versatile supersonic fighter, often delivered to U.S. allies during the Cold War.

Associated Press writer Jay Reeves in Birmingham, Ala. contributed to this report.