Five men, including four from North Texas, have been arrested and charged with trying to trade in Iranian oil in violation of U.S. trade sanctions.

A statement issued Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia identified the men as:

Zhenyu “Bill” Wang, 39, of Dallas.

Robert Thwaites, 30, of Dallas.

Nicholas James Fuchs, 26, of Dallas.

Daniel Ray Lane, 38, of McKinney.

Nicholas Hovan, 33, of New York City.

All are charged with conspiracy and violating U.S. economic sanctions on Iran.

The criminal complaint alleges that since last July, the five had tried to buy oil illegally from Iran to sell to a refinery in China. The complaint alleges that they planned to make two shipments of oil per month with an expected profit of $28 million a month.

U.S. Attorney William McSwain said in a statement that the sanctions violations would jeopardize U.S. security.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers said oil sales are "the lifeblood of the Iranian economy. "

“At the same time the United States was increasing its sanctions in order to pressure Iran to stop its malign activities, these defendants put greed ahead of country,” Demers said.

If convicted, each of the men could be sentenced to up to 25 years in federal prison and fined up to $1.25 million.

It was unclear from federal records where the five were being detained or if they had attorneys to speak for them. A message to a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney was not immediately returned.

The Associated Press