The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued a final rule making changes to the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) related to BIS’s policies and practices regarding voluntary self-disclosures (VSDs) and to the BIS Penalty Guidelines. The rule revises the BIS Penalty Guidelines to change how the Office of Export Enforcement (OEE) calculates the base penalty in administrative cases and how OEE applies various factors to the base penalty to determine the final penalty.
An India- and New Jersey-based man who operated jewelry companies in New York City’s Diamond District admitted today to spearheading a scheme to illegally evade customs duties for more than $13.5 million of jewelry imports into the United States and with illegally processing more than $10.3 million through an unlicensed money transmitting business, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Deere & Company, which does business as John Deere, agreed to pay nearly $10 million to resolve SEC charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising out of bribes paid by its wholly owned subsidiary, Wirtgen Thailand. Thailand employees bribed Thai government officials with the Royal Thai Air Force, the Department of Highways, and the Department of Rural Roads to win multiple government contracts and also bribed employees of a private company to win sales to that company.
An Israeli freight forwarder pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit export control and smuggling violations for his role in a scheme to illegally ship aircraft parts and avionics from U.S. manufactures and suppliers to Russia, including for the benefit of sanctioned Russian airline companies. As part of his plea agreement, Gal Haimovich, 49, admitted that his scheme involved deceiving U.S. companies about the true destination of the goods at issue, and that the defendant and others attempted to conceal the scheme by submitting false information in export documents filed with the U.S. government. A sentencing hearing has been set for Nov. 22.
A 76-year-old Texas man has been taken into custody on charges of smuggling parts and components used in the production of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as other manned aircraft, from the United States to Iran. The complaint alleges that on several occasions, authorities searched Goodarzi’s luggage and found numerous aircraft parts and components hidden within articles of clothing.
The Justice Department today announced the seizure of a Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft owned and operated for the benefit of Nicolás Maduro Moros and persons affiliated with him in Venezuela. The aircraft was seized in the Dominican Republic and transferred to the Southern District of Florida at the request of the United States based on violations of U.S. export control and sanctions laws.
RTX Corporation, the defense contracting roll-up formerly known as Raytheon, has entered into a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of State following a comprehensive investigation into violations of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). By paying $100 million in fines and promising to spend another $100 million on compliance programs, the firm avoids debarment and further criminal or civil action.
The Justice Department declined to prosecute the Boston Consulting Group, Inc. (BCG) for a scheme in which the firm paid $4.3 million in "commissions" to obtain consulting contracts with the government of Angola. The Government’s investigation found evidence that from in or about 2011 until in or about 2017, BCG, through its Lisbon, Portugal office, paid its agent in Angola to help BCG obtain business from the Angolan Ministry of Economy (“MINEC”) and the National Bank of Angola (“BNA”).
The Justice Department unsealed a criminal complaint charging a Hungarian national with violations of U.S. export controls targeting Russia, including by conspiring with others to illegally export U.S.-origin radio communications technology to Russian government end users without a license. Bence Horvath is charged by complaint with one count of conspiring to violate the Export Control Reform Act of 2018 (ECRA). He was arrested on arrival at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, California, on Aug. 23.
A Pennsylvania flashlight manufacturer is the latest US firm to get caught up in antiboycott violations related to participating in trade shows in the Middle East. Streamlight, Inc. paid the Commerce Department a $44,750 penalty to resolve three alleged violations of the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
The United States joined a whistleblower suit and filed a complaint-in-intervention against the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) and Georgia Tech Research Corp. (GTRC) asserting claims that those defendants knowingly failed to meet cybersecurity requirements in connection with the Department of Defense (DoD) contracts. The whistleblower suit was initiated by current and former members of Georgia Tech’s Cybersecurity team.
A Texas commodity trader pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and engaging in interstate and foreign commerce to promote and to distribute the proceeds of commercial bribery for paying bribes to officials at the Mexican state-owned oil company, PEMEX. The plea follows Javier Aguilar's conviction earlier this year in a related case for paying bribess to Ecuadorian officials and laundering the funds for both the Ecuadoran and Mexican schemes.
The third defendant in the government's case against a Kansas avionics distributor appeared in court August 21 after being extradited from Latvia. Oleg Chistyakov's partners, owners of a Wichita, Kansas distributor, have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.
The Justice Department today announced the unsealing of an indictment charging 10 defendants in a scheme to illegally procure aircraft parts, including Honeywell Turbofan Engines, from the United States to service PDVSA’s aircraft fleet in Venezuela, in violation of U.S. sanctions and export controls.
Four new individuals are subject to Denials of Export Privileges by the Commerce Department, three for firarms smuggling, and one for smuggling Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMIC) from the United States to China
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) imposed a $5.8 million civil penalty against a Pennsylvania manufacturer for shipments of "low-level items" to parties tied to the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) hypersonics, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and military electronics programs. Formerly known as Tyco Electronics, and before that AMP Incorporated, TE Connectivity Corporation is one of the world's leading manufacturers of connectors and other electronic sensors and assemblies.
A California man was arrested on charges related to the procurement of U.S.-manufactured aircraft components, including components used on military aircraft, in violation of U.S. economic sanctions and other federal laws. According to the indictment, beginning at least in 2023, Jeffrey Chance Nader and others conspired to purchase and export – and attempted to export – from the United States to Iran four types of aircraft components, totaling nearly three dozen individual pieces. Some of these components are for use on military aircraft operated by Iran’s armed forces, including the F-4 fighter jet.
A dual Russian and German national, was extradited from the Republic of Cyprus to the U.S. after being arrested twelve months ago for his involvement in a microelectronics transshipment scheme in support of the Russian war effort. Arthur Petrov, 33, is charged with conspiring to smuggle microelectronics with military applications from U.S. distributors to Russia as part of an illicit Russian-based procurement network that supplies manufacturers for the Russian military.
A Bulgarian national accused of procuring controlled microelectronics for the Russians made his initial appearance in a federal court in San Antonio August 12 after being extradited from Greece. The indictment alleges that between at least May 2014 and May 2018 the defendants used the Bulgarian company Multi Technology Integration Group EEOD (MTIG) to receive export-controlled items from the United States and transship them to Russia without the required licenses.
A Taiwanese national was sentenced August 2nd to three years and eight months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in association with a …