Three of 4 men charged in arson-for-hire free on bond

Seven men are charged, three believed to be in Iran.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — Threeof four men accused in a federal arson-for-profit scheme are free on bond pending trial.

The defendants are:

U Mohammad Fard, 44, of Canfield. He was released on $25,000 bond.

U Iraj Nasseri, 48, of Poland. He was released on $50,000 bond.

U Frank Tenney, 29, of Masury. He was released on $25,000 bond and placed on electronically monitored house arrest.

UMajeed Bazazpour, 44, of Youngstown. He will remain in custody, according to the federal clerk of court’s office.

The four defendants appeared for bond hearings this past week before Magistrate Judge George J. Limbert in Youngstown federal court. The trial will be in Cleveland. No date has been set.

The remaining three defendants believed to be in Iran are Cyrus Ghassab, Farideh Jamali and Jamshid Ghassab. Cyrus and Jamshid are brothers.

All seven are named in a 21-count indictment unsealed April 17 that charges arson, mail fraud and money laundering. At least $695,112 of unlawfully obtained proceeds from insurance schemes was laundered, the government said.

Between 1994 and 2005, nine fires were set at commercial buildings in Mahoning and Trumbull counties by one or more of the co-conspirators, said William J. Edwards, acting U.S. attorney for the northern district of Ohio.

The defendants, to conceal what they were doing, made misrepresentations to insurance companies by using multiple companies, failing to disclose prior property loss claims, using variations of their names, using “straw” purchasers, changing the names of the businesses and altering the addresses of the businesses, the government said.