Two British reinsurance brokers, Tysers Insurance Brokers Limited and H.W. Wood Limited, settled DOJ investigations on the companies' violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, DOJ announced. The charges arose out of the parts played by Tysers and H.W. Wood in a scheme to bribe Ecuadorian government officials "to obtain and retain reinsurance business with" Ecuadorian state-owned firms.

Zhenyu Wang and Daniel Lane, both Texas residents, were convicted on Nov. 15 of attempting to skirt U.S. sanctions on Iran in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, DOJ announced. DOJ said they both tried to "transact in sanctioned Iranian petroleum and launder the proceeds" and were convicted of attempting to violate IEEPA, conspiracy to violate IEEPA, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The Bureau of Industry and Security again renewed the temporary denial order for Russia's Rossiya Airlines, saying the company has continued to illegally operate planes in violation of U.S. export controls, including on flights between Russia and Egypt and Russia and Uzbekistan. The agency renewed the denial order for one year from Nov. 8, part of a change the agency announced in August that allows it to renew certain orders for one year instead of the previous 180-day maximum (see 2308290029). BIS first suspended the export privileges of the airline in May 2022 (see 2205200008) and has renewed the order multiple times.

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas temporarily halted administrative proceedings concerning SpaceX's export control-related hiring practices, in a Nov. 8 order. Granting the space exploration company's motion for a preliminary injunction in part and denying it in part, Judge Rolando Olvera said SpaceX is likely to succeed on its claim that a law making it illegal to discriminate based on citizenship status in hiring decisions, 8 U.S.C. 1324b, violates the Appointments Clause under the U.S. Constitution (Space Exploration Technologies v. Carol Bell, S.D. Tex. # 23-00137).

The Commerce Department again renewed a temporary export denial order for Mahan Airways because the airline continues to violate the order and the Export Administration Regulations. Mahan Airways has been on the banned list since 2008, and Commerce in its Oct. 31 notice said the Iranian airline has continued flights between Iran and Iraq, Russia, China and Pakistan in violation of U.S. export controls. BIS also highlighted its "continued investigation" into Mahan’s recent acquisition of an Airbus A340 with Iranian tail number EP-MJA, which the agency said had flown between Tehran and Moscow as recently as Oct. 25.

Correction: DOJ's lawsuit against SpaceX, looking into whether the space exploration firm wrongly relied on export control laws to justify its alleged hiring discrimination, is unconstitutional, the company said in a Sept. 15 complaint (see 2309210029).

The U.S. filed a forfeiture complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against a 348-foot superyacht allegedly owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, DOJ announced Oct. 23. The vessel, worth more than $300 million, was seized in 2022 in Fiji following a U.S. request for mutual legal assistance. The yacht was "improved and maintained in violation of" sanctions on Kerimov and "those acting on his behalf," DOJ alleged.

The U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office released a statement after a Court of Appeal decision relating to how the U.K. government may sanction a Russian entity based on what parties can exert control over it. The agency said it is "carefully considering" the decision's impact, specifically the decision that PJSC National Bank is controlled by sanctioned parties due to their political office (see 2301310028).

The Bureau of Industry and Security recently renewed temporary denial orders for Russian airline Ural Airlines (see 2304110018) for one year and Russian cargo carrier Aviastar (see 2304180012) for six months after the agency said both continue to “act in blatant disregard” for U.S. export controls. BIS said Ural has continued to illegally operate aircraft on flights between Russia and Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and Aviastar has operated flights between China and Russia. The TDOs bar the airlines from participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations.

John Unsalan, president of U.S. building materials supplier Metalhouse, pleaded guilty last week in connection with violations of Russia-related sanctions. Unsalan allegedly breached sanctions against Russian oligarch Sergey Kurchenko and two of his companies by providing them with over $150 million for steel-making materials (see 2304180033). DOJ said Unsalan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering to “promote violations” of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence, and agreed to forfeit about $160 million in proceeds he obtained from the conspiracy. The U.S. dismissed the remaining counts of the indictment against Unsalan as part of a plea deal.