[2][6] Born into an Iranian Jewish family,[2] Hakim attended California Polytechnic Institute for three years, beginning in 1955.
"[9] Hakim moved to California in the early 1980s, and in 1983 established Stanford Technology Trading Group International (STTGI) with retired Air Force Major General Richard Secord.
STTGI subsequently became involved in illegal covert operations to supply the Nicaraguan contras, as part of the Iran-Contra affair.
[2][10] For his part in the matter, Hakim was charged with five felonies, which were dismissed, and subsequently pleaded guilty in a plea bargain to a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to probation and a fine of $5000.
[2][11] Hakim died of a brain aneurysm in 2003, aged 66, Inchon, South Korea, where he had moved to be near his wife's family.