Where Industry and Security Intersect
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(WASHINGTON) -- A federal jury in Portland, Ore. has convicted Henry (Hank) Joseph Trojack for conspiring with others to illegally export impregnated alumina to Iran through Dubai, UAE between December 1995 through August 1996, while operating under the business name R&H International, U.S. Department of Commerce Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement F. Amanda DeBusk announced. Export of these items required individual validated license during the time of the conspiracy.
Trojack and co-defendant Hamid (David) Rashidian were arrested in January 1997. They were each charged with one count of conspiracy, Title 18 U.S.C., Sec. 371, and Money Laundering Title 18 U.S.C., Sec. 1956, for their part in trying to procure and sell to Iran. Rashidian's trial is scheduled to begin April 21, 1998. Trojack was convicted on February 18, 1998 and will be sentenced on May 4, 1998. He could receive up to six years in federal prison.
Impregnated alumina has industrial uses as a catalyst in plastic and rubber manufacturing, but can also be used in the development of insecticides and chemical warfare agents.
The investigation was conducted by BXA's Office of Export Enforcement's San Jose Field Office, the United States Customs Service and the United States Attorney's office in Portland, Ore. BXA controls and licenses exports and re-exports of dual-use commodities for reasons of national security, foreign policy, non-proliferation and short supply. The U.S. government maintains a comprehensive economic sanctions program against the government of Iran, which prohibits virtually all commercial transactions involving U.S. origin goods or U.S. persons or both, with the government of Iran.
In April of 2002 the Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) changed its name to the Bureau of Industry and Security(BIS). For historical purposes we have not changed the references to BXA in the legacy documents found in the Archived Press and Public Information.