Latvia’s Financial and Capital Market Commission (FCMC) fined a Swedish bank more than $1.8 million dollars for anti-money laundering and sanctions violations, the FCMC said in a Dec. 20 press release. The bank, AS SEB banka, did not “fully” ensure its clients were not participating in money laundering activities, the press release said, and did not properly screen a customer for sanctions violations. After the violations, the bank “independently” improved its anti-money laundering compliance program, FCMC said. The agency also said the “risk level” of the violations were “low” and the bank followed through on the settlement agreement, which included two external audits, an improved “internal documentation” system and an improved information technology system to “monitor customer transactions.”

The owner of a U.S. freight forwarding company pleaded guilty to trafficking in exotic birds after an attempt to illegally export 86 birds, including three falsely labeled macaws, from California to Taiwan, the Justice Department said in a Dec. 16 press release. Paul Tallman, owner of Aerotyme-Inc., worked with William McGinness to ship the birds from New Orleans to California and eventually to Taiwan, the press release said, which would have violated the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The scheme also would have violated a 2015 Taiwanese ban on imports of California birds due to the risk of “highly pathogenic avian flu.”

An Indonesian citizen and three Indonesian companies were charged after violating U.S. export laws and sanctions against Iran, the Justice Department said in a Dec. 17 press release. Sunarko Kuntjoro and three companies -- PT MS Aero Support (PTMS), PT Kandiyasa Energi Utama (PTKEU), and PT Antasena Kreasi (PTAK) -- illegally exported U.S.-origin goods and technology to sanctioned Mahan Air, an Iranian airline, the press release said. The exports violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, the Export Administration Regulations and the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations.

The Justice Department announced three “key changes” for companies that submit voluntary disclosures of export controls and sanctions violations, the agency said in a Dec. 13 press release. The changes emphasize voluntary disclosures and lean toward rewards for companies that cooperate with the Justice Department through non-prosecution agreements and “significant” reductions in penalties, the press release said.

A Canada-based contractor for the U.S. Navy and the company’s president were fined for their involvement in a scheme that included unlicensed exports to China and giving false information to the Commerce Department’s Office of Export Enforcement, the Justice Department said in a Dec. 4 press release. The company, OceanWorks International Corp., and its president, Glen Omer Viau, were fined $84,000 and $25,000, respectively. Viau was credited for time served.

Two Russian nationals, two Italian nationals, a U.S. citizen and three companies were charged in a conspiracy to evade international trade sanctions, including violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Export Control Reform Act, the Justice Department said in a Dec. 3 press release. The conspiracy involved an attempted $17.3 million purchase of a Vectra 40G power turbine and attempts at wire fraud and money laundering, the Justice Department said.

A Lebanese energy equipment company was fined $368,000 by the Bureau of Industry and Security after it illegally re-exported generators to Syria, according to a settlement agreement signed Nov. 27. Ghaddar Machinery allegedly committed 20 violations of the Export Administration Regulations from 2014 to 2016, totaling about $730,000 worth of exports, BIS said. Ghaddar agreed to pay the penalty in five installments through November 2021. Failure to make the payments could result in more penalties, according to the settlement agreement, including a two-year denial of export privileges.

A U.S. citizen was charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after he delivered a presentation and gave technical advice in North Korea on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, the Justice Department said in a Dec. 2 press release. The Singapore resident and U.S. citizen, Virgil Griffith, received “warnings” not to go to North Korea, the Justice Department said, adding that his actions constituted an evasion of U.S. sanctions.

The former president of a Maryland transportation company was found guilty of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after bribing an official at Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation, the Justice Department said Nov. 22. Mark Lambert, former president of Transportation Logistics Inc. (TLI), was found guilty of four counts of violating the FCPA, one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA and other fraud-related charges.

Samsung Heavy Industries Company will pay more than $75 million to settle charges that it bribed Brazilian government officials in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department said Nov. 22. The South Korea-based engineering company agreed to split its settlement in two payments of $37,740,800 to the U.S. and to Brazilian authorities, the Justice Department said.