A Louisiana chemical manufacturer agreed to forfeit nearly $2 million for illegally exporting controlled chemicals, the Department of Justice said in a June 10 news release. Natural Advantage, controlled by Carol Callahan Byrne and Brian Byrne, distributed and exported more than 1,500 kilograms of controlled chemicals within the U.S. and worldwide without the required Drug Enforcement Administration registrations and despite DEA warnings, DOJ said. Company executives knew about the unlicensed sales and arranged to use other U.S. companies to sell the controlled List 1 chemicals -- including piperonal, heliotropine and phenylacetic acid -- to foreign customers.
The U.S. is seeking to withdraw a case against a man convicted of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran (see 2003180019), according to court records filed June 5. U.S. prosecutors said the case should be dropped due to “disclosure-related issues” during the March trial, which would likely lead to “continued litigation about” suppression of evidence. “The Government has determined that it would not be in the interests of justice to further prosecute this case,” prosecutors said in a letter to the court.
The Justice Department is seeking a $20 million forfeiture from Kenneth Zong, who allegedly violated U.S. sanctions against Iran and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the agency said in a June 3 news release. Zong worked with three Iranian nationals to illegally convert their money in a South Korean bank account into U.S. dollars, the Justice Department said. To do this, Zong engaged in “fraudulent transactions” and laundered money through a “host” of shell company bank accounts “in multiple jurisdictions,” including the U.S., the United Arab Emirates and South Korea. The funds were valued at about $1 billion, but about $20 million was used to try to buy a hotel in Tbilisi, Georgia, the agency said.
An aircraft holding company is suing the Treasury Department after the agency blocked a transaction involving the company and an alleged Specially Designated Global Terrorist, according to court records filed June 2. In the lawsuit, Seychelles-registered Askan Holdings, owned by Romania-based Transylvania International Airlines SRL, argued that no sanctioned party was involved in the transaction and said the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control failed to identify the blocked party or grant Askan a license. Askan is asking a court to order OFAC to grant the license or to stop blocking the transaction.
The Commerce Department again renewed an export denial order for Mahan Airways because the airline continues to violate the order and the Export Administration Regulations, according to a May 29 notice. The Iranian airline has been on the banned list since 2008, and the notice renewed the ban for 180 days, until about Dec. 2, 2020, Commerce said. Since last renewing Mahan’s denial order in December (see 1912050032), the U.S. sanctioned a China-based logistics company for operating as a sales agent for Mahan Airways (see 2005190020 and 2005200027).
A North Korean bank and 28 North Korean and Chinese citizens were charged with evading U.S. sanctions, according to an indictment unsealed May 28. The scheme -- which included branches of North Korea’s state-owned Foreign Trade Bank in Thailand, Libya, Austria, Russia, Kuwait and China -- involved a series of front companies used to access the U.S. financial system. The scheme allowed the banks to process at least $2.5 billion in illegal payments through more than 250 front companies, which provided funding for North Korea’s nuclear missile programs.
A Texas man pleaded guilty to involvement in a scheme to illegally export 17 million cigarettes to Mexico, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said May 26. The cigarettes originated from a warehouse controlled and operated by Jose Francisco Guerra, who authorities later discovered owned a second warehouse with contraband cigarettes. The warehouses contained nearly 423 million contraband cigarettes destined for export to Mexico, ICE said. Authorities uncovered the scheme when they stopped a tractor trailer heading to Mexico with the cigarettes and a falsified shipping manifest, ICE said. The cigarettes on the truck also did not have “the applicable tax stamp” required by Texas law. As part of his plea, Guerra agreed to forfeit his customs broker license and various equipment and assets. The total value of the seized equipment and assets was about $88 million, ICE said. Guerra faces up to 10 years in prison and a potential $250,000 fine.
The Department of Justice charged the leaders of a sanctions-evading financial services company in Iran with wire fraud, money laundering, identity theft and sanctions violations, the agency said in a May 18 press release. PAYMENT24 CEO Seyed Sajjad Shahidian and COO Vahid Vali used the company to help Iranian citizens avoid U.S. financial sanctions against Iran, which included purchases of U.S. computer software, software licenses and computer servers. The company offered a package to help clients purchase goods and services from U.S. businesses, including a PayPal account, a fake “ID card,” a remote IP address from the United Arab Emirates and a Visa gift card. The company charged a fee to evade U.S. sanctions, the press release said.
The State Department rescinded a policy of denial for a subsidiary of BAE Systems located in Saudi Arabia, according to a notice. The policy no longer applies to BAE Systems Saudi Arabia Limited (BAES SAL), which was one of several BAES subsidiaries convicted of violating the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations in 2010. The State Department rescinded the denial policy after receiving a request from BAES SAL and determining the action was “in the national security and foreign policy interests” of the U.S.
The State Department issued statutory debarment for 23 people for violations of the Arms Export Control Act, the agency said in a notice. The State Department stressed that they are blocked from participating in activities regulated by the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, including brokering activities, exports and temporary imports. The debarment period will last for three years, at which time the people can apply for reinstatement of export privileges, the agency said. If their export privileges are not reinstated, they remain debarred.