The Justice Department announced the unsealing of a superseding indictment against a Russian national, charged with conspiracy and violations of U.S. sanctions for assisting sanctioned Russian media baron and businessman Konstantin Malofeyev. The indictment alleges that Alexey Komov. conspired with Malofeyev to recruit and employ an American citizen, John Hanick, to assist in the creation and operation of a Russian television network. Komov also allegedly worked with Malofeyev, Hanick, and others to unlawfully transfer a $10 million investment Malofeyev held in a U.S. bank to a Greek business associate. This transfer violated U.S. sanctions blocking Malofeyev’s assets.
Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a $257,690 settlement with C.H. Robinson International Inc. (CHR). The Minnesota-based logistics firm agreed to settle its potential civil liability for 82 apparent violations by five of its non-U.S. subsidiaries, which provided freight brokerage or transportation services for shipments in apparent violation of OFAC sanctions on Cuba and Iran. The vast majority of the apparent violations appear to have occurred because the subsidiaries’ brokerage management systems had not yet been incorporated into CHR’s system or otherwise updated to include the latest sanctions compliance controls and did not screen for potentially violative transactions.
A Washington State freight forwarder was indicted Tuesday in a Brooklyn court for her alleged involvement in a scheme to circumvent U.S. export laws and sanctions on Russia. A 12-count indictment charges Natalya Ivanovna Mazulina, 41 the Western regional manager of Delex Air Cargo, a freight forwarding company based in Jamaica, New York, was arrested December 10 in Seattle and will be arraigned in the Eastern District of New York at a later date.
A Chinese national who purchased a Kentucky magnet company was indicted for his role in an illegal scheme to send export-controlled defense-related technical data to China and to unlawfully supply the Department of Defense (DOD) with Chinese-origin rare earth magnets for aviation systems and military items.
A Chinese national who purchased a Kentucky magnet company was indicted for his role in an illegal scheme to send export-controlled defense-related technical data to China and to unlawfully supply the Department of Defense (DOD) with Chinese-origin rare earth magnets for aviation systems and military items.
Brent Wible, Chief Counselor in the Office of the Assistant Attorney General delivered the keynote to the The American Conference Institute’s International Conference On The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in Washington, DC December 5th.
McKinsey and Company Africa (Pty) Ltd, which operates in South Africa as a wholly owned and controlled subsidiary of international consulting firm McKinsey & Company Inc, will pay over $122 million to resolve an investigation by the Justice Department into a scheme to pay bribes to government officials in South Africa between 2012 and 2016.
Sergey Nechaev, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen, was arrested December 2 in the Southern District of Georgia on charges related to the unlawful attempted export of two small aircraft to Russia. In conjunction with the arrest, the U.S. government also seized the aircraft.
A 41 year-old Chinese national with an an expired student visa has been arrested and charged with exporting firearms, ammunition and other military items to North Korea. Shenghua Wen was arrested December 3rd in Ontario, California.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced a $14,550,000 settlement with a German firm involved in smuggling a plastics plant from Austraiia to Iran. The out of pocket penalty for the violator is $250,000 to be paid within three months, with 27 quarterly payments of $150,000 thereafter. assuming the violator complies with the settlement and remains in business for the next seven years.
French and British authorities launched a joint investigation into suspected bribery and corruption at the aerospace and defense group Thales. Thales, Europe's largest defence technology firm, said the probe by the SFO and France's PNF financial prosecutor concerned a contract in Asia and focused on four entities in France and the UK, without giving further details.
A Florida Man was sentenced to 48 months in prison for conspiring to act as an agent of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) without notification to the Attorney General. Ping Li, 59, admitted that, from at least as early as 2012, he served as a cooperative contact working at the direction of officers of the MSS to obtain information of interest to the PRC government.
The founder and former chief executive officer of a California-based international logistics and freight forwarding company with offices in Grapevine, Texas, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate export laws by shipping goods to Chinese companies on the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Entity List.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it filed 583 total enforcement actions in fiscal year 2024 while obtaining orders for $8.2 billion in financial remedies, the highest amount in SEC history. In addition, in fiscal year 2024, the SEC obtained orders barring 124 individuals from serving as officers and directors of public companies, the second-highest number of such bars obtained in a decade.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced a penalty of $1,104,408 against a U.S. citizen for 75 violations of sanctions targeting Iran. Between 2019 and 2022, they orchestrated a scheme to purchase, renovate, and operate a 19-suite hotel on the Caspian Sea in Iran.
An Indian national arrested in Miami was indicted for conspiring to export controlled aviation components with dual civilian and military applications to end users in Russia, in violation of the Export Control Reform Act. Sanjay Kaushik, 57, is also charged with attempting to illegally export a navigation and flight control system from Oregon to Russia through India, and with making false statements in connection with an export. The November 20 indictment was handed down in the District of Oregon.
An indictment was unsealed charging the former CEO of a bitcoin mining form with bribery violations and his company entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department. The November 18 indictment charges Zhengming Pan, former CEO of 500.com (now BIT Mining Ltd.), a Chinese national, with multiple violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Simultaneously, BIT Mining Ltd. has agreed to resolve investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concerning related FCPA violations, involving bribery of Japanese officials. …
A Venezuelan man was sentenced to 30 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for his role in a scheme to illegally procure aircraft parts from the United States to service PdVSA’s aircraft fleet in Venezuela, in violation of U.S. sanctions and export controls.
The owner of a California technology company pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act for his role in a transnational, multi-million-dollar scheme to secure and illegally export dual-use semiconductors and other sensitive technology sanctioned entities in Russia.
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) has reached a settlement with New York City Based M&M Wireless Communications, and its principals over 94 violations of U.S. export regulations between 2019 and 2021. According to the BIS, M&M Wireless and its owners misrepresented key details in multiple export shipments of consumer electronics to the United Arab Emirates.