AMERICAN investigators foiled a sophisticated plot to funnel three jumbo jets originally owned by Qantas to Iran, in defiance of strict trade sanctions.
Qantas sold the passenger jets to a company in the Middle East, which hatched the plan to send the planes to Iran.
The planes were shifted between related companies in the United Arab Emirates and the West African country of Gambia over 16 months.
One of the passenger jets - previously called the ''City of Tamworth'' - ended up in Iran in March last year, before US authorities intervened to prevent the other two 747s from joining it there.
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An aircraft leasing company in California, CSDS Aircraft Sales and Leasing, blew the whistle on the deal and lodged a formal complaint against Qantas with the US State Department.
Iran is at the top of countries blacklisted by the US and other Western nations, including Australia. The United States' heavy trade sanctions are aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear ambitions and extend to the export of planes and aircraft parts to the nation.
The company that Qantas sold the three jumbos to had created a front company in Gambia to help it get the planes to Iran without raising suspicions.
CSDS alerted investigators from the US State Department about Qantas selling the jets to Sayegh Group Aviation in the UAE, and the existence of the front company.
The investigators found that the Gambian company had been ''created as a 'clean' company for the purpose of facilitating the lease of the 747s to an Iranian airline or airlines''.
CSDS claims Qantas did not do its homework on the buyers of its jets. ''What it comes down to is that Qantas could have easily smelt it a long way away if they really wanted to,'' CSDS president Benedict Sirimanne said. ''If we felt there was something there, they could have easily felt it.''
But Qantas said it had met all of its legal obligations and ''took all reasonable precautions in respect of the sale of the three 747s to Sayegh Aviation Group''.
''Whenever we sell an aircraft, we carry out extensive due diligence on the buyer,'' a spokesman said.
The airline also pointed out that Sayegh was not ''subject to any US regulatory investigation or process'' when it sold the jets to it in August 2010.
Qantas also accused the Californian leasing company of ''drawing a very long bow to suggest that we're responsible for the conduct of third parties''.
The case raises questions about the obligations of aircraft sellers such as Qantas to find out the bona fides of buyers.
CSDS had sought information several times from the Australian airline about the planes it had for sale, including the 747s. But it said Qantas' aircraft sales department turned it down, preferring to deal with the Middle Eastern company, which is at the centre of the controversy.