The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit in a Sept. 7 opinion affirmed the conviction and sentence of Iranian national Mehrdad Ansari for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas convicted Ansari for his role in a scheme to obtain military sensitive parts for Iran in violation of the Iran trade embargo. The appellate court upheld his conviction, rejecting his two constitutional arguments against the district court's ruling and Ansari's evidentiary claims (United States v. Ansari, 5th Cir. #21-50915).
The Bureau of Industry and Security recently revoked export privileges for two people after they illegally exported controlled items from the U.S.
Cary Yan and Gina Zhou, two Marshall Islands nationals charged with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, arrived in the U.S. Sept. 2 after being extradited from Thailand, the DOJ announced Sept. 2. The pair is charged with violating the FCPA, money laundering and conspiracy in a scheme to bribe elected officials in the Marshall Islands to get certain legislation passed. The August 2020 five-count indictment charged Yan and Zhou with one count of conspiring to violate the FCPA, two counts of violating the FCPA, one count of conspiring to commit international money laundering and one count of committing international money laundering.
Juan Jose Roque, a Mexican national illegally living in Garland, Texas, was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison for illicitly exporting firearms from the U.S. to Mexico, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas announced Aug. 29. Roque pleaded guilty in April, and is expected to face removal proceedings after his imprisonment given that he is not a U.S. citizen, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
Over $1.2 million in forfeited funds from an international tax fraud and money laundering scheme for fuel imported into Romania will be sent back to the Romanian government, DOJ announced. The funds came from the sale of property located in Washington state that was owned by a Romanian couple who were extradited to Romania, the Aug. 26 news release said.
Rixon Rafael Moreno Oropeza, a Venezuelan national and businessman, was charged with making bribe payments and money laundering in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, DOJ announced. Per the indictment returned to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Moreno laundered the money made from inflated procurement contracts that were received by making bribes to senior executives at Petropiar -- a joint venture of Venezuela's state-owned energy company and an American oil company.
The State Department imposed an administrative debarment on three former U.S. intelligence community and military members for their roles in export control violation charges, the agency said. The debarments prohibit Ryan Adams, Marc Baier and Daniel Gericke from exporting or participating in transactions that export defense articles or services that require a license under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The debarments for Adams and Baier took effect July 7 and expire July 7, 2025; the debarment for Gericke took effect Aug. 5 and expires Aug. 5, 2025.
The Bureau of Industry and Security last week revoked the export privileges for five people after they illegally exported defense equipment from the U.S., including two for shipping thermal devices to Russia.
Chinese shipping giant China International Marine Containers Group Co. ditched its effort to acquire Maersk Container Industry and Maersk Container Industry Qingdao Ltd. (collectively, MCI) following a DOJ investigation, DOJ announced. During the investigation, DOJ found that the merger would have combined two of the globe's four suppliers of insulated container boxes and refrigerated shipping containers and consolidated over 90% of insulated container box and refrigerated shipping container production under Chinese state-owned or state-controlled entities.
Three Mexican nationals -- Jonathan Roberto Rojas-Casados, Roberto Rojas-Ramirez and Roberto Angel Roman-Alvarez -- were charged with attempted exportation of wildlife, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas announced Aug. 23. The trio allegedly attempted to ship over 160 animals out of the U.S. in violation of the Endangered Species Act and the Lacey Act since the men did not have a license or permission to export the wildlife.