The Justice Department announced the indictment of five men for their involvement in a "laptop farming" scheme which involved obtaining remote IT work with US companies to generate revenue for the North Korean Governement (DPRK). According to the indictment, the defendants used forged and stolen identity documents, including U.S. passports containing the stolen personally identifiable information of a U.S. person, to conceal the true identities of North Korean co-conspirators, so that these North Korean nationals could circumvent sanctions and other laws to obtain employment with U.S. companies.
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security and the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed approximately $2.5 million in combined civil penalties against a California machine tool builder for permitting authorized distributors to sell equipment and repair parts to sanctioned entities in China and Russia, “Today’s coordinated resolution with OFAC demonstrates our resolve to hold accountable companies that do not put in place effective compliance programs to prevent exports to Entity Listed companies,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Kevin J. Kurland.
Miami real estate broker Roman Sinyavsky pleaded guilty today to engaging in a scheme to violate U.S. sanctions and commit money laundering by conducting transactions involving blocked properties owned by sanctioned Russian oligarchs Viktor Perevalov and Valeri Abramov. The properties, valued approximately $1.8 million were forfeited earlier this month. In a separate settlement, Sinyavsky and his company have agreed to pay a civil penalty of approximately $1,076,923.
A Chinese telecommunications company has admitted in federal court in Chicago that it conspired to steal digital mobile radio technology developed by Illinois-based Motorola Solutions, Inc. Hytera Communications Corp. Ltd. pleaded guilty on Monday in the Northern District of Illinois to a federal charge of conspiracy to steal trade secrets. Under the terms of a plea agreement, Hytera may be fined up to $60 million. …
A Montreal man was sentenced Wednesday to to 40 months in prison for conspiring to commit export control violations. Nikolay Goltsev masterminded a global procurement scheme on behalf of sanctioned Russian companies, including Russian military companies. Some of the electronic components shipped by Goltsev were later found in seized Russian weapons platforms and signals intelligence equipment in Ukraine.
A member of the Yakuza crime syndicate has pleaded guilty to trafficking nuclear materials, including weapons-grade plutonium, from Burma. The scheme was uncovered during a DEA investigation into narcotics and firearms trafficking. Takeshi Ebisawa, 60, of Japan, pleaded guilty in Manhattan to conspiring with a network of associates to traffic nuclear materials, including uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, from Burma to other countries, as well as to international narcotics trafficking and weapons charges. Ebisawa pleaded guilty to six counts contained in the superseding indictment issued in February 2024
The Department of Justice announced that, pursuant to a court-ordered default judgment and final order of forfeiture entered on Jan. 7, it has secured the forfeiture of two two Miami condominiums that were maintained, transferred, and leased in violation of U.S. sanctions against Russian national Viktor Perevalov. The forfeited properties have a combined value of approximately $1.8 million. Perevalov, a constructions executive, was sanctioned in January 2018 for his work in Russia-occupied Crimea. Later that year, a Miami real estate agent retained to manage the properties transferred the two condominiums owned by Perevalov to a limited liability company set up to obfuscate Perevalov’s interest in the properties. Following the transfer, the properties continued to be leased, generating proceeds used to maintain them.
The Justice Department announced Tuesday that it entered into an agreement to share $50 million in forfeited assets with the Republic of Estonia in recognition of Estonia’s assistance in the successful prosecution of Danske Bank and related forfeiture. In December 2022, Danske Bank pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in a scheme to defraud U.S. banks regarding Danske Bank Estonia’s customers and anti-money laundering controls to facilitate access to the U.S. financial system. According to admissions and court documents, Under the agreement, Estonia will use the funds to strengthen its capacity to fight financial crime.
The Team at BIS Export Enforcement condensed an exceedingly active year to a page and a half memo of admirable brevity recapping the office's activities. The men and women of Export Enforcement work tirelessly to help safeguard our collective national security. From degrading the Russian war machine to stopping the People’s Republic of China (PRC) from acquiring advanced U.S. technology, our efforts impose costs on adversaries and degrade their battlefield capabilities.
OFAC announced a $22,172 settlement with a a New York aviation supplies distributior to settle its potential civil liability for six apparent violations of OFAC sanctions related to Russia’s aerospace and technology sectors. In 2024, SkyGeek Logistics, Inc. attempted two refunds and sent four shipments to two Specially Designated Nationals in the United Arab Emirates sanctioned in connection with these sectors. The settlement amount reflects OFAC's determination that the apparent violations were non-egregious and that certain of its conduct was voluntarily self-disclosed.
Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published its third quarterly update of the boycott Requester List. The list notifies companies, financial institutions, freight forwarders, individuals, and other U.S. persons of potential sources of certain boycott-related requests they may receive during the regular course of business. Firms removed from the list include Siemens Energy Global GMBH & CO KG of Germany, Saudi operations of Waste Management, and Malaysian operations of nine firms, including Flextronics and Halliburton. Additions to the list include seven Malaysian entities, six from Bangladesh, four from Saudi and the UAE, three from Turkey and Pakistan, and others, including the UK, Libya, Japan and Australia.
A New York solder manufacturer settled violations associated with the sales of products to Russia valued at approximately $96,506. Indium Corporation of America cooperated with the investigation conducted by BIS’s Office of Export Enforcement (OEE) and took remedial measures after discovering the conduct at issue, which resulted in a significant reduction in the penalty. The items exported by Indium are classified EAR99, however, because these items were classified by Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) codes that appeared on Supplement no. 5 to Part 746 of the EAR at the time of export, these items required a license for export to Russia
A California firm has agreed to pay over $3 million as part of a settlement agreement for unlicensed shipments of transistors to Russia. Because the firm did not regularly review revisions to the EAR they failed to recognize that, as of February 2023, such items required a license for export to Russia.
An Illinois aviation services company will pay over $55 million to resolve investigations by the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). AAR Corp was facing prosecution for paying bribes to government officials in Nepal and South Africa.
A Canadian national was was sentenced Monday to 24 months in prison for conspiring to send to undercover law enforcement officers trade secrets that belonged to his previous employer, Tesla Motors Canada subsidiary Hibar Systems Ltd. Klaus Pflugbeil, a Chinese resident and a Canadian and German national, and his co-defendant, Yilong Shao, who remains at large, are owners of a PRC-based business Hife Systems, that sold technology used to make batteries, allegedly used stolen confidential information – developed by Hibar – to establish their own Chinese-based competitor.
The founder of Iranian company and an engineering PhD and Marketing Manager of a Boston-area microelectronics manufacturer were arrested and charged with Violating Export Control Laws in Conspiracy to Procure Sensitive U.S. Technology for Use in IRGC Military Drones Mahdi Sadeghi, 42, a dual U.S.-Iranian national of Natick, Massachusetts, and Mohammad Abedini, 38, of Tehran, Iran, have been charged with conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components from the United States to Iran in violation of U.S. export control and sanctions laws. Abedini is also charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization (FTO), , that resulted in the deaths of three U.S. servicemembers who were killed by a one-way attack Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), also known as a drone, on a military base in Jordan. Sadeghi was arrested and made his initial appearance Monday in the District of Massachusetts. Abedini was also arrested in Italy by Italian authorities at the request of the United States.
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.