Kuwait Airways Corp. was fined $700,000 as part of a settlement agreement with the Commerce Department after the corporation violated the Export Administration Regulations through antiboycott violations, Commerce said in an order released this month. The company, based in New Jersey, committed 14 violations of the EAR when it complied with an “unsanctioned foreign boycott” by refusing to accept passengers with Israeli passports. Commerce said it will suspend $100,000 of the fine if Kuwait Airways does not commit another violation of the Export Control Reform Act or of the EAR within the next three years, if it pays the remainder of the fine on time, and if it complies with the terms of the settlement. If the airline does not comply with the settlement, BIS may revoke the airline’s export privileges for one year and revoke the corporation’s current export licenses and exceptions.

Five U.S. citizens were charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after they tried to buy oil from Iran before selling it to a Chinese refinery, the Justice Department said Feb. 11. Nicholas Hovan, Robert Thwaites, Nicholas James Fuchs and Daniel Ray Lane arranged to buy the Iranian oil and sell it to a refinery represented by Zhenyu Wang, the agency said. Lane offered to launder money through his company Stack Royalties, the Justice Department said, and Fuchs and Thwaites planned to set up offshore accounts to avoid detection by U.S. authorities. The people also agreed to use a Polish shell company as a “straw seller” of the oil and allegedly planned to sell two shipments per month “for great profit.” If convicted, they each face a maximum 25-year prison sentence and a $1.25 million fine.

Three people were convicted on fraud, money-laundering and smuggling charges after the Justice Department said they created a fake export scheme to make tens of millions of dollars, according to a Feb. 7 press release. Florida resident Johnny Grobman, along with Raoul Doekhie and Sherida Nabi of Suriname, bought U.S. goods at “deeply discounted” prices after they told U.S. manufacturers the products would be shipped overseas as part of a government procurement contract in Suriname. Instead of exporting the goods, the three people sold the items in the U.S. and split the profits, the Justice Department said.

A group of more than 20 states and Washington, D.C., asked a court to place a preliminary injunction on the Trump administration's plans to transfer gun export controls from the State Department to the Commerce Department, according to a motion filed Feb. 6. The motion says the states will “suffer irreparable harm” if an injunction is not issued. The states filed a lawsuit last month (see 2001240047) that asked the court to vacate final rules released by Commerce and State that would finalize the transfer of the export controls on March 9 (see 2001170030). The lawsuit said the rules will create a dangerous lack of oversight over goods used for the 3D printing of guns and violate federal notice-and-comment procedures and the Arms Export Control Act.

A Chinese national and former Raytheon engineer was charged with violating the International Traffic in Arms Regulations after he took a company laptop with sensitive military technology data to China, according to an indictment filed Jan. 29. Wei Sun, who worked as an electrical engineer for Raytheon Missile Systems from 2009 to 2019, had access to “advanced and sensitive defense-related technology” on his laptop, the indictment said, and his trip overseas constituted an illegal export of ITAR-controlled defense articles. Sun’s computer contained controlled data covered under Categories 4 (launch vehicles, guided missiles, ballistic missiles, rockets, torpedoes, bombs and mines) and 11 (military electronics) of the ITAR, including a “Field Programmable Gate Array,” according to an unsealed complaint.

An Iranian citizen who was head of a Dubai-based export company was sentenced to time served and fined $5,000 for illegally exporting gas turbine parts to Iran, the Justice Department said in a Jan. 30 press release. Mahin Mojtahedzadeh pleaded guilty to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and Iran sanctions in July 2019 after using her company, ETCO-FZC, to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran (see 1907190040). Mojtahedzadeh, who has been held in custody since November 2018, will be transferred to immigration custody and be removed from the U.S., the Justice Department said.

An Iranian national faces several fraud-related charges for his involvement with a joint project with the Iranian and Venezuelan governments to violate U.S. sanctions, the Justice Department said in a Jan. 31 press release. Bahram Karimi was a member of a committee that oversaw the construction of “thousands” of housing units in Venezuela with help from Iran, the agency said. Karimi worked with others to defraud U.S. banks by hiding the role of Iranian parties in payments sent through the U.S. banking system, which violated U.S. economic sanctions. Karimi made at least 15 payments worth about $115 million. Karimi was also charged with making false statements after he was interviewed by two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents in January 2020 and said he did not know U.S. sanctions against Iran applied to Iranian companies or people. Karimi faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for both conspiring to commit bank fraud and committing bank fraud. He also faces a maximum five-year prison sentence for making false statements.

A Washington state resident and Bosnia citizen was sentenced to 85 months in prison for violating the Arms Export Control Act and other weapons possession charges, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a Jan. 28 press release. Hany Veletanlic sold firearms on eBay, the press release said, and was involved in 20 separate exports to two “customer groups” in Sweden. He also exported firearm parts to customers in France, Russia and Brazil.

A Colombian national and Florida resident was sentenced to 20 years in prison for illegally exporting firearms to the National Liberation Army, a designated foreign terrorist organization in South America, the Justice Department said in a Jan. 28 press release. Francisco Joseph Arcila Ramirez worked with two others to illegally buy firearms in south Florida -- including four Draco 7.62mm caliber AK-style pistols and two Zastava M92 7.62mm AK-style pistols -- and ship them to Barranquilla, Colombia. The shipments also included about 100 AK-47 ammunition magazines and were hidden in “Husky air-compressors” bought by Arcila at a Home Depot. Arcila also planned future sales with a weapons broker for the terrorist group, which would have included more firearms magazines and components in the “coming months,” the Justice Department said. Arcila was paid about 60 million Colombian pesos for the goods, the press release said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement transported a Kazakhstani national back to his home country after he was convicted of international arms trafficking, ICE said in a Jan. 23 press release. Eldar Rezvanov illegally exported defense articles, including firearms and parts, without the proper licenses, the agency said. Rezvanov and a conspirator used aliases to buy the items and lied on federal forms about the final destinations of the exports, ICE said. They smuggled the items onto overseas flights using “false shipping inventories” and “concealed the disassembled firearm components by taping them to metal kitchen utensils before shipping them overseas.” In 2017, Rezvanov attempted to export 395 firearms parts, 75 magazines, and 20 barrels and slides in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. Later that year, Rezvanov again tried to export a range of defense-related goods -- including seven pistols, nearly 1,000 magazines and 453 firearms parts -- to Chechnya.