BIS Temporarily Blocks Exports to Belgian Company After Multiple Fraud Attempts
The Bureau of Industry and Security on Aug. 26 issued a temporary denial order barring a Belgian company and its owner for fraudulently attempting to acquire accelerometers from the U.S. on behalf of prohibited end-users in China. BIS said it suspended export privileges for Knokke-Heist Support Corporation Management (also known as Hasa-Invest) and Hans De Geetere after their “false statements made to U.S. companies to obtain the items” raised “significant concerns of future violations.”
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According to BIS, Knokke-Heist made several attempts to obtain the accelerometers from a U.S. company whose identity is redacted in the order. For example, in April 2021, BIS detained a shipment of accelerometers being exported from a German company, and obtained sales documentation from the U.S. company, including an end-user statement where Knokke-Heist said the items were being purchased on behalf of a Belgian government entity and a letter from Knokke-Heist in support of the end-user statement that was purportedly signed by the Belgian government, BIS said.
BIS was unable to confirm the Belgian government end user and “planned to advise” the U.S. company not to proceed with the transaction. It then received an email “purportedly written by Knokke-Heist’s Belgian Government customer, copying De Geetere.” BIS “was able to confirm this was a fraudulent email and that it did not come from the Belgian Government,” it said.
BIS later determined that, prior to the detained shipment, De Geetere and his company had ordered about $360,000 worth of accelerometers from the anonymous U.S. company’s German distributor starting around July 2020, which was shortly after the U.S. company’s Chinese distributor, Nova Instruments, had been placed on the entity list. Other evidence showed at least some orders from the German distributor had been placed on behalf of a Chinese entity that is related to another Chinese company on the entity list.
BIS subsequently uncovered other attempts to fraudulently obtain accelerometers by Knokke-Heist and De Geetere, including another detained shipment exported from the U.S. company to a company in the United Arab Emirates using a fictitious name and that did not have equipment that could use the accelerometers, where the U.S. company was again led to believe the shipment was destined for the Belgian government. De Geetere also made a separate attempt to obtain accelerometers directly from another U.S. company based in Florida. Most recently, Belgian authorities identified a shipment of accelerometers in mid-August 2022 from the U.S. to De Geetere and Knokke-Heist, BIS said.
“Given the sheer number and nature of attempts by Respondents to acquire U.S.-origin items under false pretenses on behalf of prohibited end-users or for prohibited end-uses, conduct which OEE’s investigation reveals has continued, renders a TDO necessary to prevent future violations,” the agency said.