Texas men sentenced for selling sanctioned Iranian oil to China

(NewsNation) – Two Texas men were sentenced Tuesday to 45 months in prison for their part in a plot to sell sanctioned Iranian oil to a buyer in China.

Zhenyu “Bill” Wang, 43, and Daniel Ray Lane, 42, were charged with conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and conspiracy to commit money laundering, a said the US Department of Justice in a press release.

According to court documents, Wang, a Chinese citizen; Lane, of McKinney, Texas; and their co-conspirators attempted to conceal the origins of the oil and finance the transaction. They obtained Antiguan passports to attempt the transaction and set up offshore bank accounts to receive money from the proposed sale.

The DOJ said Wang communicated with people interested in purchasing oil from China and found a buyer. Additionally, the DOJ claims he arranged for bribes to be given to Chinese officials to enable the illegal sale.

Lane agreed to help launder money destined for Iran through his company, Stack Royalties, according to court documents.

“They planned to start their project with a shipment of 500,000 barrels of Iranian oil, but intended to increase shipments to one or two million barrels per month for a year or more,” the Ministry of Defense said. Justice.

If the sale had been successful, Wang said he expected to make a profit of $1.5 million for each 500,000 barrel shipment.

The DOJ said Wang and Lane made statements admitting they knew the project violated U.S. sanctions on Iran.

“I like sanctions to be honest with you and sanctions make money for everyone,” Wang said, according to the DOJ.

Lane spoke about hiding and disguising money, stating that “sanctions can always be manipulated…you know, there's always a way around it.”

According to the DOJ, co-conspirator Nicholas Hovan was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison in January. Additionally, co-conspirators Nicholas Fuchs and Robert Thwaites were each sentenced to 10 months in prison.