A United Kingdom national was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to attempting to export a gas turbine to Iran (see 2009020056), the Justice Department said Dec. 17. Colin Fisher was also fined $5,000 for the export violations, which included an attempt to buy a gas turbine from Florida-based Turbine Resources International on behalf of a company in the United Arab Emirates.
A Russian citizen and two Bulgarians were charged with violating U.S. export controls after they used a Bulgarian company to illegally ship controlled items to Russia, the Department of Justice said Dec. 18. Russian national Ilias Sabirov and Bulgarian nationals Dimitar Dimitrov and Milan Dimitrov used Bulgarian company Multi Technology Integration Group EEOD (MTIG) to export the items, which included various electronic components. All three men were added to the Entity List last week (see 2012180039).
The U.S. affiliate of one of the world’s largest energy trading firms will pay more than $150 million in fines after it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department said Dec. 3. The company, Vitol Inc., paid millions of dollars in bribes to Brazilian officials and conspired to bribe officials in Ecuador and Mexico, the Justice Department said. The schemes involved fake consulting agreements, shell companies and more than $8 million in bribes.
A Venezuelan business executive was indicted on money laundering charges for his alleged involvement in a bribery scheme to benefit officials at Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., the Justice Department said Nov. 25. Natalino D’Amato allegedly worked with others to launder funds from the bribery scheme to and from bank accounts in Florida, including for joint ventures controlled by U.S.-sanctioned PdVSA. Companies controlled by D’Amato received about $160 million from PdVSA’s joint ventures, and D’Amato used a portion of that money to bribe Venezuelan officials, the Justice Department alleged. The U.S. is seeking to seize about $45 million belonging to bank accounts involved with the scheme.
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, according to a Nov. 24 notice. The Iranian airline has been on the banned list since 2008, with the last denial renewed May 29. The latest renewal is for 180 days beyond Nov. 24, Commerce said.
The United Kingdom collected about £700,000 ($935,000) in fines related to export violations between March and September, a Nov. 24 notice said. The fines, which ranged from £1,000 ($1,335) to more than £200,000 ($267,000), were related to unlicensed exports of dual-use goods, military goods and “related activity” controlled under the U.K.’s Export Control Order 2008.
The State Department announced penalties on foreign entities for illegal transfers under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act. The entities transferred items subject to multilateral control lists that contribute to weapons proliferation or missile production, the agency said in a notice released Nov. 24. The entities are: China-based Chengdu Best New Materials Co. Ltd. and Zibo Elim Trade Co.; and Russia-based Aviazapchast, Joint Stock Company Elecon and the Nilco Group. The companies and their subsidiaries are barred from purchasing items controlled on the U.S. Munitions List and by the Arms Export Control Act. The State Department will also suspend any current export licenses used by the companies and bar them from receiving new export licenses for any goods subject to the Export Administration Regulations. Government agencies are barred from entering into procurement contracts with them. The measures took effect Nov. 6.
A Chinese national who is a naturalized U.S. citizen and former Raytheon Missiles and Defense engineer was sentenced to 38 months in prison after pleading guilty to violating U.S. export controls, the Justice Department said Nov. 17. Wei Sun, who was charged in January (see 2002050025), violated the Arms Export Control Act when he took a company laptop with sensitive military technology data to China. His computer contained data controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, including technical information on a missile guidance system. Raytheon didn’t comment.
Danish state prosecutors charged a Danish holding company, its subsidiary and its director for violating sanctions against Syria, a Nov. 12 EU Sanctions blog post said. The company, which Denmark does not name, allegedly sold 172,000 metric tons of jet fuel to Russian companies, which delivered the fuel to Syria, a government news release said, according to an unofficial translation. The sales violated European Union sanctions and involved about 647 million Danish kroner, the equivalent of about $100 million.
A Taiwan resident and two companies were charged with participating in a conspiracy to violate U.S. export laws and sanctions against Iran, the Justice Department said Nov. 10. Chin Hua Huang was a sales agent for Taiwan business DES International Co. and Brunei company Soltech Industry Co., and all three conspired to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, Justice said. They were also sanctioned by the Treasury Department earlier this week (see 2011100025).