BIS Fines Maryland Company for Illegal Crime Control Exports
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a Maryland company and its owner $42,000 for illegally exporting crime control items, BIS said in an April 15 order. The agency said Panther Trading Company (PTC) of Landsdowne and its owner, Harsimran Singh, illegally exported $11,000 worth of crime control equipment to Mexico, $22,000 worth of goods to the Dominican Republic and helped a Nigerian buyer buy $12,343 worth of goods.
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The company illegally exported to Mexico shipments of handcuffs, collapsible batons and stun guns, BIS said, all of which need a license under the Export Administration Regulations. PTC received the order request from a Mexican “security equipment distributor” in 2014 and sent the goods to a freight forwarder in Texas the next day.
Later that year, Singh and PTC sent handcuffs and leg cuffs to the representative of a foreign Nigerian buyer who was based in New York, according to the order. BIS said the company “had reason to know” that the goods would be exported to Nigeria “based on discussions with the representative.” Singh had also received a letter from CBP earlier that year after the agency seized an unlicensed export shipment of handguns shipped by another entity owned by Singh, BIS said. In the letter, CBP told Singh that the handcuffs needed a license and the shipment required an Automated Export System filing.
In December 2014, Singh sent another shipment of collapsible batons to a freight forwarder in Florida after receiving an order for the batons from a Dominican Republic company. PTC “knew that the items were for export,” BIS said, and the forwarder exported the items to the Dominican Republic later that month.
Although BIS fined the company $42,000, it will waive $29,500 of the penalty if PTC and Singh pay the rest of the fine within 30 days, comply with a settlement agreement and don’t commit any more EAR violations. If the company doesn’t comply with the agreement, BIS said it will impose the full fine and may deny PTC’s export privileges for one year.