Mahmoud Reza Banki

Mahmoud Reza Banki (Persian: محمودرضا بانکی; born 1976) is an Iranian-American scientist, management consultant and business executive.

In January 2010, Banki was arrested and charged with violating US sanctions against Iran by the United States Attorney's office in New York City.

After his release Banki earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Los Angeles, and worked at NBCUniversal.

In essence, the charges against Banki stemmed from prosecution allegations that he, as an American citizen, had violated US sanctions on Iran.

The jury ruled that Mahmoud Reza Banki's other assets including the apartment he had purchased with the family funds he had received was not a direct proceeds of any crime and not forfeitable.

The Iranian American Bar Association along with 10 other advocacy and civil rights groups filed a separate amicus brief with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

The brief argued that U.S.-Iran sanctions "are not aimed at the Iranian people, and therefore they contain exemptions permitting certain humanitarian transactions and family remittances.

"[19] For about 11 months (from January 7, 2010, through December 1, 2010) Banki was held in high and maximum security detention centers in Manhattan and Brooklyn (MCC and MDC).

[20] For the month of December in 2010, Banki was transferred to the Taft Correctional Institute's deportation prison outside of Bakersfield in California.

In January 2011, Banki was transferred to the lower security Taft prison where he remained pending the appellate decision.

On October 24, 2011, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled in favor of Banki and reversed the sanctions charges against him.

In exchange, prosecutors agreed that Banki was not guilty of the sanctions charges without going through a second trial and that they would end pursuing the case further in criminal or civil courts.

the damage to Mr. Banki's life brought about by his lengthy incarceration, occasioned by his confinement, cannot be measured only by the 22 months in which he lost his liberty and which he cannot get back".

Banki spoke about his case for the first time publicly at a TED Conference at UCLA in 2014 in an effort to raise awareness about the justice system.