Feds ‘lied’ about hiding key evidence

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan were so determined to win a case against a businessman accused of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran that they told a “flat lie” about evidence a jury used to convict him, according to a report.

Despite the guilty verdict, prosecutors eventually dropped all charges against Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad after lawyers for the government failed to disclose evidence they had against the Iranian banker, then lied about their failure to disclose it.

The transgression was so egregious that U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan urged the Justice Department to open an internal investigation into the conduct of the prosecutors, who work in the terrorism and international narcotics unit in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.

Nathan’s push for a probe accompanied her decision to grant an Associated Press request to unseal documents in which prosecutors were ordered to explain themselves.

“Accountability and reform can also come from sunlight,” Nathan wrote in a ruling. “The prosecutorial misconduct in this case is of exceptional public interest, bearing both on the fair administration of justice for criminal defendants and the efficacious prosecution of violations of federal law.”

The documents unsealed, over the objection of prosecutors, included dozens of private text messages, transcripts and correspondence, according to The Associated Press.

Jurors found Sadr guilty last March of using a network of front companies to funnel through U.S. banks more than $115 million in payments related to a construction project in Venezuela to his family’s business in Iran, in violation of U.S. sanctions.

He faced a maximum of 125 years in prison for charges including money laundering and bank fraud.

Nathan said prosecutors made a “deliberate attempt to obscure” the truth and attempted to “bury” a key document that might have helped the defense.

At issue was a bank record that was not shared with Sadr’s attorneys, a potential violation of rules intended to ensure a fair trial.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jane Kim suggested turning it over immediately to the defense. But a colleague, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Lake, recommended they “wait until tomorrow and bury it in some other documents,” according to court records.