The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a Dubai company $25,000 for violating the Export Administration Regulations when it exported “powder grade nickel” to the United Arab Emirates, according to a May 28 order. The company, Alsima Middle East General Trading, submitted false and misleading statements to BIS in its license application for the export, the agency said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked export privileges for a North Carolina man after he illegally exported firearms and ammunition to Honduras, BIS said in a May 27 order. Chris Rodriguez was convicted Oct. 18, 2019, for violating the Arms Export Control Act when he tried to ship 27 firearms and “hundreds” of rounds of ammunition without the required State Department licenses. Rodriguez was sentenced to 18 months in prison, three years of supervised release and a $100 fine. BIS also revoked his export privileges for seven years from the date of his conviction, and revoked any BIS-issued licenses in which he had an interest at the time of his conviction.
The Bureau of Industry and Security fined a U.S. laser manufacturer $350,000 for illegally exporting laser systems to China, according to a May 28 order. The company, New York-based Photonics Industries International, exported more than 20 “RGH-1064-30 picosecond laser systems” to China in 2014 and failed to apply for the required licenses, which violated the Export Administration Regulations.
Tina Chen, a resident of Las Vegas and owner of electronics and computer components exporter Top One Zone, was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to export goods from the U.S. to Iran, the Department of Justice said in a May 28 news release. Chen allegedly worked with others to purchase and ship goods from U.S. companies through entities in Hong Kong to individuals in Iran without a license from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Chen hid the identities of the end-users, DOJ alleged. She is charged with one count of conspiracy to unlawfully export goods to Iran in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations -- a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
In complying with a May 25 U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia order to remove the “Communist Chinese military company” designation from Chinese consumer electronics giant Xiaomi, the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued a FAQ May 27 saying that the prohibitions under the designation “do not apply with respect to Xiaomi.” The Defense Department and Xiaomi jointly moved to drop the label after District Judge Rudolph Contreras said it violated the Administrative Procedure Act and was made on insufficient evidence (see 2105120047). To date, two other companies so labeled have challenged the designation in the D.C. district court, and one, Luokung Technologies, has been granted a preliminary injunction.
Two Bolivian nationals and three U.S. citizens were arrested on charges of bribery and money laundering relating to payments made by a U.S. company and individuals to secure a Bolivian government contract, then the laundering of the payments through the U.S. financial system, the Department of Justice announced. Luis Berkman, Bryan Berkman and Philip Lichtenfeld allegedly paid $602,000 in bribes to Arturo Murillo Prijic, the then-Bolivian minister of government; Sergio Mendez Mendizabal, the Ministry of Government's former chief of staff; and one other Bolivian official. The bribes were paid to secure a $5.6 million contract for tear gas and other non-lethal equipment between Bryan Berkman's Florida-based company and the Bolivian Ministry of Defense, DOJ said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked export privileges for an Iranian businessman for illegally exporting carbon fiber from the U.S. to Iran, BIS said in a May 24 order. Behzad Pourghannad was convicted Nov. 12, 2019, for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after he worked with others to export the carbon fiber to Iran from third countries using falsified documents and front companies (see 1911150023). Pourghannad was sentenced to 20 months in prison and a $100 fine. BIS also revoked his export privileges for 10 years from the date of his conviction, and revoked any BIS-issued licenses in which he had an interest at the time of his conviction.
Italian company GVA International Oil and Gas Services pleaded guilty to violating the Export Control Act after conspiring to obtain a power turbine for use on a Russian Arctic deepwater drilling platform. According to a May 26 press release from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, GVA admitted to working with Russia-based energy company KS Engineering to procure the $17.3 million turbine from a U.S. manufacturer for the project -- a move prohibited by the Commerce Department without first obtaining a license. While attempting to finalize the transaction, GVA employee Bruno Caparini, along with a KSE employee and an employee of the Georgia-based firm World Mining and Oil Supply, was arrested. GVA owner Gabrielle Villone is currently in prison serving a 28-month sentence after pleading guilty to conspiracy to violate the ECA.
Two former Chadian diplomats posted to the U.S. were charged with bribery and money laundering after allegedly accepting a $2 million bribe from a Canadian energy company in exchange for obtaining oil rights in the African nation. Mahamoud Bechir and Youssouf Takane took the bribe and conspired to launder it while serving as diplomats in Chad's Embassy in Washington, 2009 to 2014, the Department of Justice said in a May 24 news release. The diplomats allegedly pledged to leverage their influence in Chad to secure the energy company the oil rights. The president of the Canadian company, Naeem Tyab, pleaded guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Chinese consumer electronics company Xiaomi Corporation, along with the Department of Defense, moved to have the company's designation as a "Communist Chinese military company" vacated, in a May 20 joint proposed order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The move follows the court's finding that the designation was in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act (see 2105120047).