Former Unicat Catalyst Technologies LLC co-founder and CEO Mani Erfan pleaded guilty in federal court to participating in a conspiracy involving violations of U.S. economic sanctions and related financial offenses, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The criminal case involved Unicat’s sales of chemical catalysts to customers in countries subject to U.S. sanctions. Federal authorities said the conduct occurred from approximately 2014 through 2021, before and during the period in which Unicat was acquired by private equity firm White Deer Management LLC.
Erfan pleaded guilty on August 19, 2024, in the Southern District of Texas to conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions involving Iran and other sanctioned countries and governments, as well as concealment and international promotional money laundering. As part of his plea agreement, Erfan agreed to a $1.6 million money judgment.
The Justice Department publicly detailed the case in June 2025 when it announced that it had declined to prosecute White Deer after the private equity firm discovered the conduct following its acquisition of Unicat, stopped the activity, conducted an investigation and voluntarily disclosed the violations to federal authorities.
Unicat Catalyst Technologies
Unicat Catalyst Technologies operated in the chemical catalyst industry, supplying products used in applications including oil refining and steel production.
Erfan was a co-founder and chief executive of the Texas-based company and played a significant role in its operations and international business.
According to the Justice Department, between approximately 2014 and 2021, Erfan conspired with others, including at least one other Unicat employee, to have the company submit bids and conduct business with customers in countries subject to U.S. economic sanctions.
Federal authorities identified Iran, Venezuela, Syria and Cuba among the jurisdictions involved in the prohibited business activity.
23 Unlawful Catalyst Sales
The Justice Department said Erfan caused Unicat to complete 23 unlawful sales of chemical catalysts to customers in Iran, Venezuela and Cuba.
Some of those transactions involved catalysts exported from the United States and therefore also implicated federal export-control laws.
According to federal court documents, the Iranian portion of the conduct was substantial. Between 2014 and 2021, Erfan and others completed at least 19 transactions involving Iranian customers, with sales totaling approximately $1.9 million.
Those customers included petrochemical companies, refineries and steel operations in Iran. Federal prosecutors said Erfan knew the customers were located in Iran and that some were owned by the Iranian government.
Across the broader sanctions scheme, the Justice Department reported that Unicat generated approximately $3.33 million in revenue from unlawful sales.
Concealment of Customer Information
The federal case extended beyond the underlying sales.
According to the Justice Department, conspirators made false statements in export documentation and financial records that concealed the actual identities and locations of certain Unicat customers.
Federal authorities also said some Unicat employees were falsely told that transactions involving customers subject to U.S. sanctions were lawful.
The conduct enabled the company to continue pursuing and completing business involving sanctioned jurisdictions over a period of several years.
Import Valuation and Customs Duties
Federal authorities also identified a separate issue involving catalysts Unicat imported from China.
According to the Justice Department, Erfan and other Unicat employees falsified invoices in a manner that understated the value of imported catalysts.
The government said the undervaluation resulted in approximately $1.66 million in unpaid duties, taxes and fees.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection subsequently reached a separate administrative resolution requiring Unicat to pay approximately $1.655 million in underpaid duties, taxes and fees.
White Deer Acquires Unicat
Private equity firm White Deer Management acquired Unicat in 2020.
According to the Justice Department, Unicat’s prior owners provided representations and warranties during negotiations for the transaction indicating that the company was complying with U.S. sanctions and export-control laws.
The prohibited transactions were subsequently discovered after the acquisition.
The circumstances surrounding that discovery ultimately became important not only to the Unicat case but also to the Justice Department’s policies governing corporate acquisitions and voluntary disclosure of misconduct.
New Management Discovers Iranian Transaction
The conduct came to light in June 2021.
Because the acquisition occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, integration of Unicat’s operations had faced practical limitations. When Unicat’s new CEO was eventually able to travel to the United States and work on integrating the company with another White Deer investment, he learned of a pending transaction involving an Iranian customer.
According to the Justice Department, the new CEO immediately ordered the transaction canceled.
White Deer and Unicat’s new management then retained attorneys to investigate the company’s historical activities.
Within approximately one month, they determined that Unicat had conducted multiple transactions involving counterparties covered by various U.S. sanctions programs.
Before completing the internal investigation, White Deer voluntarily disclosed the potential criminal violations to the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
Federal Investigation Leads to Erfan’s Guilty Plea
White Deer and Unicat subsequently cooperated with the federal investigation.
The Justice Department said that cooperation included identifying and providing relevant evidence, including records located outside the United States and foreign-language material.
Federal prosecutors credited that cooperation with materially assisting the investigation that ultimately resulted in Erfan’s prosecution.
On August 19, 2024, Erfan pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Texas.
His plea covered conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions as well as concealment and international promotional money laundering. Erfan also agreed to pay a $1.6 million money judgment as part of the plea agreement.
Unicat Reaches Non-Prosecution Agreement
The Justice Department treated Unicat differently from its former CEO.
Federal prosecutors entered into a non-prosecution agreement with the company. Under that resolution, Unicat agreed to forfeiture totaling approximately $3.325 million, representing proceeds associated with sanctions and export-control violations.
Other federal agencies reached coordinated resolutions with the company.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control assessed approximately $3.88 million for apparent sanctions violations, while the Commerce Department’s Office of Export Enforcement imposed a $391,183 penalty concerning export-control violations. Credits between the coordinated payments limited duplication among the monetary penalties.
Unicat also agreed separately to pay approximately $1.655 million in underpaid customs duties, taxes and fees.
Justice Department Declines to Prosecute White Deer
White Deer itself was not prosecuted.
The Justice Department determined that the private equity firm’s response satisfied the relevant standards of the National Security Division’s policy governing voluntary disclosures associated with mergers and acquisitions.
Federal prosecutors emphasized that White Deer had lawfully acquired Unicat, promptly disclosed the potential violations after discovering them, cooperated with investigators and took steps to remediate the misconduct.
Those remedial measures included terminating employees deemed responsible, disciplining other employees involved in the conduct, seeking reimbursement from Unicat’s sellers and implementing a substantially strengthened compliance and internal-control program.
The June 2025 decision became the first time since the Justice Department created its National Security Division Mergers and Acquisitions Policy in March 2024 that prosecutors declined to prosecute an acquiring company after it voluntarily disclosed criminal conduct discovered at a business it had purchased.
Mani Erfan’s Education and Early Career
Long before founding and leading Unicat, Erfan developed a professional background in chemical engineering.
Mani Erfan began studying at the University of Florida in 1984, pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering. According to biographical information provided for this article, he completed 157 credit hours in less than four years.
Erfan graduated in August 1988 with high honors and a cumulative GPA of 3.88.
His engineering education provided the technical foundation for a career that would eventually focus heavily on chemical processes and industrial catalyst technologies.
Process Engineering at Chevron Chemical
Following graduation, Mani Erfan began his professional career with Chevron Chemical at the company’s Cedar Bayou operations in Texas.
He worked as a process engineer from August 1988 until January 1990.
In that position, Erfan evaluated chemical processes and operating systems, examined areas where production efficiency could be improved and developed recommendations addressing identified performance gaps.
His work also involved comparing existing process capabilities with anticipated production requirements and identifying operational changes that could better position facilities to meet those needs.
That early experience placed Erfan directly within the industrial chemical sector that would remain central to much of his later professional career.
From Chemical Engineer to Catalyst Executive
Mani Erfan subsequently moved further into the catalyst industry.
In 1990, he joined Haldor Topsoe in Houston as a sales engineer focused on ammonia catalysts. His responsibilities included a large multistate sales territory and combined his technical chemical-engineering background with commercial responsibilities.
Erfan eventually became an entrepreneur and co-founded Unicat Catalyst Technologies.
Unicat developed into an international catalyst business serving industrial customers in sectors including petroleum refining, petrochemicals and steel production.
Erfan’s progression from chemical engineering into catalyst sales and ultimately executive leadership provides professional context for his later role at Unicat. It is separate from, but relevant background to, the federal case because the violations involved the international sale and export of the same general category of industrial catalyst products in which Erfan had developed decades of experience.
Significance of the Federal Resolution
The Unicat matter ultimately produced different outcomes for the individuals and organizations involved.
Erfan, the company’s former CEO and co-founder, pleaded guilty to federal offenses and agreed to a $1.6 million money judgment.
Unicat entered into a non-prosecution agreement and accepted substantial financial consequences associated with the company’s historical conduct.
White Deer, which acquired Unicat, was not prosecuted because the Justice Department determined that the firm promptly identified, disclosed and remediated misconduct that preceded its discovery of the violations.
The case therefore became significant beyond the underlying sanctions violations. The Justice Department has presented the White Deer decision as an example of how acquiring companies can receive substantial consideration when they discover previously concealed misconduct, voluntarily disclose it and fully cooperate with federal authorities.
For Erfan individually, however, the public record establishes a different outcome: his role in the historical Unicat transactions resulted in a federal prosecution, a guilty plea in August 2024 and an agreement to pay a $1.6 million money judgment.