A Georgia businessman, a former Honduran government official and a former Florida resident were charged with allegedly participating in a scheme to pay and hide bribes to Honduran government officials to "secure contracts to provide uniforms and other goods" to the Honduran National Police, DOJ said.
The Commerce Department on Jan. 15 will adjust its civil monetary penalties for inflation, the agency said in a notice released this week. The changes will increase penalties for certain export control and export filing violations, including by increasing the maximum fine for a violation of the Export Control Reform Act, from $353,534 to $364,992.
Robert Alcantara of Providence, Rhode Island, was sentenced to 68 months in prison for illegally exporting over 100 "ghost guns" to the Dominican Republic, according to DOJ.
A U.S. appeals court this month upheld the conviction and 57-month prison sentence of Florida business owner Peter Sotis for conspiring to and illegally attempting to ship export-controlled rebreather diving equipment to Libya.
BIS recently suspended the export privileges of four inmates at a Texas federal prison for 10 years from their dates of conviction for their illegal firearms exports to Mexico.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week suspended the export privileges of several people, including one person for illegally exporting goods to a university on the Entity List.
A Kansas business owner pleaded guilty Dec. 19 for his part in a scheme to violate U.S. export laws by filing false export forms and shipping "sophisticated and controlled" avionics equipment to Russian customers without export licenses, DOJ announced. Cyril Buyanovsky, owner of KanRus Trading Co. also agreed to forfeit over $450,000 worth of avionics equipment along with a $50,000 personal forfeiture. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison.
An Oakland, California, resident pleaded guilty last week to illegally exporting firearms and other defense items, including night vision goggles. DOJ said Fares Abdo Al Eyani tried to ship the items to Oman from the Port of Oakland in 2019, but U.S. law enforcement stopped the shipment from leaving the country.
Charles McGonigal, a former FBI agent in the New York Counterintelligence Division, was sentenced to 50 months in prison for his work with sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced in a Dec. 14 news release. McGonigal in August pleaded guilty to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, including by, following his departure from the FBI, investigating a rival Russian oligarch in return for payments from Deripaska (see 2308160029).
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week again renewed temporary denial orders for three Russian airlines (see 2206240051) that it said continue to illegally operate aircraft on flights into and out of Russia. The agency renewed denial orders for Siberian Airlines, Pobeda Airlines and Nordwind Airlines for one year from this week. The orders were previously renewed for 180 days, but BIS requested a longer extension because the airlines continue to "act in blatant disregard for U.S. export controls and the terms of previously issued TDOs," including by operating flights between Russia and Dubai, Istanbul, Minsk, Beijing and Bangkok.