The aviation arm of U.K. trading company Balli Group has been fined $15 million after pleading guilty to illegally exporting three Boeing 747s to Iran.

London-based Balli is headed by Iranian-born Vahid Alaghband.

Between 2005 and 2008, the U.S. Justice Dept. says, Balli Aviation purchased the U.S.-origin aircraft through its subsidiary Blue Sky Companies with financing from “an Iranian airline” and exported the aircraft to Iran without the required U.S. government licenses.

“Further, Balli Aviation Ltd. entered into lease arrangements that permitted the Iranian airline to use the U.S.-origin aircraft for flights in and out of Iran,” the DOJ says. Flag carrier Iran Air is the only Iranian airline listed as operating 747s, with a fleet of nine.

Balli has agreed to pay a $2 million criminal fine and be placed on corporate probation for five years. In addition, the company is to pay a $15 million civil penalty of which $2 million will be suspended if there are no further export control violations.

The civil settlement was agreed to with the Commerce Dept.’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and the Treasury Dept.’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. The DOJ says the fine is one of the largest for an export violation in BIS history.

Photo credit: Boeing