A Florida couple were both sentenced to 57 months in prison for illegally importing and selling between $25 million and $65 million worth of plywood products in violation of the Lacey Act and customs laws. The defendants engaged in a sophisticated scheme to evade antidumping and countervailing duties owed on hardwood plywood products made in China by falsely declaring the species, country of origin or country of harvest of the wood from which the plywood was made.
February 15, the DOJ unsealed charges against Mauricio Gomez Baez, former Senior Vice President of Stericycle LATAM Between 2011 and 2016, Mr. Gomez Baez, a Mexican citizen and resident of Miami conspired with other Stericycle employees and agents to pay approximately $10.5 million in bribes to Mexican, Brazilian, and Argentinian government officials in order to obtain government contracts for medical waste collection for Stericycle.
A Jamaica, NY freight forwarder settled with the Bureau of Industry and Security for facilitating the export of enterprise servers and switches from the US to Iran without the required US government authorization. The settlement calls for a two-year suspended denial of its export privileges, thereafter waived, provided no futher violations and completion of compliance training.
Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson will travel to European capitals this week to coordinate the allied response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Nelson's schedule includes the Munich Security Conference, meetings in Brussels with EU counterparts, and in Paris the Plenary of the Financial Action Task Force.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas delivered the keynote address to the Munich Cyber Security Conference in Munich, Germany. "The world is on the cusp of a new era in the digital revolution," he said. "We must answer the question of how security and governance should be exercised on this modern digital landscape, in service of the world’s economic and social well-being."
Deputy Attorney General (AG) Lisa Monaco traveled to London this week to highlight the continued collaboration of the United States and United Kingdom to combat persistent threats to global security, including emerging challenges like the theft and misuse of disruptive technologies, especially artificial intelligence (AI). Together with Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft, the Deputy AG convened the second meeting of their ongoing, strategic dialogue, combining the expertise and capabilities of the Home Office and the Justice Department to identify and address emerging threats.
French oilfield services giant SLB has applied for the Export Import Bank to extend a long-term loan guarantee in excess of $100 million to entities controlled by the investment arm of the in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The vote for this project comes after resignations from climate advisors who were shut out of project evaluations and deliberations. ExIm also failed to disclose the project funding amount, despite pressure from civil society and environmental groups.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States has received a request to increase the financed amount for a Malaysian petrochemical complex. Indications are the funding will support the work of …
Volkswagen said Tuesday that U.S. Customs had detained several thousand Bentley, Porsche and Audi vehicles at ports because the cars contained a part made by a Chinese supplier on a sanctions list for using forced labor in Xinjiang. The automaker describes the part's origin as a "sub-supplier," meaning a supplier to one of its suppliers—an entity far down the supply chain. Last year VW committed to conducting a supply chain audit for exposure to modern slavery.
The United States and Mexico today announced the successful resolution of a USMCA Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) matter at Asiaway Automotive Components Mexico in San Luis Potosí an automotive components manufacturer where workers were previously denied their freedom of association and collective bargaining rights. After the United States requested Mexico’s review of the matter, Mexico and the company took several actions to address violations of labor law, including reinstating and paying backpay to a wrongly dismissed worker and correcting other employer interference in union activities.
Representatives of the U.S. Departments of State, Commerce, and Treasury, along with delegations from the UK and Ukraine, joined senior EU and member state government officials for a Sanctions Coordinators Forum in Brussels Tuesday. "We reaffirmed our shared commitment to supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and opposing Russia’s aggression and that sanctions are a key tool in that effort. The delegations discussed the use of targeted sanctions to deter and disrupt malign Russian activity and to demonstrate our readiness to take action to defend international norms," according to a State Department readout. The EU Statement was more comprehensive:
The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is amending the North Korea Sanctions Regulations to amend or add general licenses to facilitate certain humanitarian-related and journalistic activities. These changes include: additional non-governmental organization (NGO) activities, removal of dual licensing burden, expansion of authorization for the exportation or reexportation of certain food, medicine, and other agricultural and medical items, and a new G/L for Journalists.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing Wednesday examining the importance of the trilateral AUKUS security pact among the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Scrupulously avoided during the hearing on military assistance was mention of the $95.34 billion military aid package for Ukraine and other allies being blocked by House leadership. At the hearing, Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) discussed the importance of reforming America’s foreign military sales (FMS), called for rebuilding the country’s defense industrial base, and hinted at reforms to existing arms control and nonproliferation policies. Testifying was Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins, who defended the Biden Administration’s initiatives within her remit.
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned a procurement network responsible for facilitating the illegal export of goods and technology from over two dozen U.S. companies to end-users in Iran, including the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), which is designated for its role in providing financial support to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and Hizballah. Among sanctioned firms are an Iranian subsidiary of Iran’s Central Bank that most recently developed the Central Bank Digital Currency platform for the bank; a UAE-based front company, which acquired U.S. tech for the Central Bank of Iran and the front company’s CEO, as well as a Turkey-based affiliate firm that also made purchases that ended up in Iran.
The United States and Japan held the first round of government and stakeholder dialogues under the Task Force on the Promotion of Human Rights and International Labor Standards in Supply Chains. Established in January 2023, the Task Force aims to protect and promote human rights and internationally recognized labor rights in supply chains. Its activities include sharing information on respective trade policies, laws, guidelines, and, where appropriate, enforcement practices.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, the most strident anti-communist to come out of Wisconsin's Fox River Valley since Sen. Joseph McCarthy, has had enough of the House of Representatives. Mr. Gallagher told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he will leave Congress at the end of his current term to enter the private sector and spend more time with his young family.
The United States and Mexico announced the successful resolution of the Rapid Response Labor Mechanism (RRM) matter at the Fujikura Automotive wire harness facility in Piedras Negras. A complaint alleged the firm was blacklisting workers from an American-owned trim plant shuttered in a prior RRM dispute. After the United States requested that the Government of Mexico review the matter, Mexico conducted an investigation and undertook multiple remediation steps to ensure workers’ rights are protected at the facility.
A Montreal woman pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy for her role in a multimillion-dollar scheme to send components used in unnamed aerial vehicles (UAVs) and guided missile systems and other weapons to sanctioned entities in Russia. Last October, a criminal complaint was unsealed, and a Brooklyn, New York, resident and two Canadian nationals were arrested in connection with a global procurement scheme in which the defendants used two corporate entities registered in Brooklyn to unlawfully source and purchase dual-use electronics on behalf of end-users in Russia, including companies affiliated with the Russian military.
Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to keep criminals and foreign adversaries from exploiting the U.S. financial system and assets through investment advisers. The proposed rule would require certain investment advisers to apply Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) requirements pursuant to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), including implementing risk-based AML/CFT programs, reporting suspicious activity to FinCEN, and fulfilling recordkeeping requirements.
A 747 Boeing Freighter was flown to Miami from Buenos Aires by U.S. Marshalls in the latest chapter of the Mahan Air Saga. Mahan, a sanctioned Iranian airline is affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). On Oct. 20, 2022, in support of its ongoing criminal investigation, the United States filed a civil forfeiture complaint alleging that the aircraft’s transfer from Mahan Air to Empresa de Transporte Aéreocargo del Sur, S.A. (EMTRASUR), a Venezuelan cargo airline and subsidiary of a Venezuelan state-owned company, violated U.S. export control laws.