Man Charged With Illegal Export of Fighter Jet Parts

Federal authorities yesterday arrested a man on charges of illegally exporting parts for an American fighter jet now used solely by Iran. Jilani Humayun, 59, of Lynbrook, N.Y., allegedly sold parts of F-5 and F-14 jets to a company in Malaysia without government approval, according to a complaint filed by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Iran is the only country that still flies F-14s, which were manufactured by Grumman. America sold Iran a fleet of the jets when the countries were allies during the 1970s; the Bush administration froze sales of spare F-14 parts in January.

Mr. Humayun applied for an export license before he set up his business in 2004, but the State Department allegedly turned him down, saying his Malaysian customer was "unreliable," according to the complaint.

The filing alleges that Mr. Humayun sold the parts anyway. He is charged with 11 counts of illegal exports, as well as mail fraud and money laundering. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to 150 years in prison.