The U.S. accused China-based telecommunications company Hytera Communications Corp. of conspiring to commit theft of trade secrets by working with former employees of Motorola Solutions Inc. to steal their former employer's digital mobile radio technology. Laying out the claims against Hytera in an unsealed indictment filed at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, the Department of Justice said that the former Motorola employees left Motorola to work for Hytera then lied about their intended moves in exit interviews with the Chicago-based company. On their way out the door, the former employees took proprietary and trade secret information for the DMR technology. Hytera stands accused of conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets and individual counts of possession or attempted possession of stolen trade secrets. The co-defendants' names were redacted in the indictment. The Chinese firm faces a fine of three times the value of the stolen trade secrets, including expenses for research, design and other costs.

Saber Fakih of the United Kingdom pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to illegally exporting and attempting to export an industrial microwave system (IMS) and counter-drone system to Iran, the Department of Justice said. Fakih also admitted conspiring with Bader Fakih of Canada; Altaf Faquih from the United Arab Emirates; and Alireza Taghavi of Iran. Fakih's actions violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulation, DOJ said Jan. 27.

A California-based semiconductor and telecommunications technology company recently received a warning letter from the Bureau of Industry and Security after it voluntarily disclosed possible export violations. The company, Credo, said it “inadvertently provided three evaluation boards of nominal value” to two customers without required export licenses. Credo submitted a final voluntary self-disclosure to BIS in June and received a warning letter in September with no penalties, according to a January Securities & Exchange Commission filing. Credo didn’t say where the customers were located but said it sells its products in Asia, including in markets where “multiple” companies have been added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List or the military end-user list. The company said it’s “in the process” of improving its export compliance policies and procedures but believes it “remedied the deficiencies that resulted in the apparent violations through additional training, system enhancements and enhanced export controls.”

Six individuals were named in an indictment at the U.S. District Court for Central California for their roles in a scheme to smuggle weapons and ammunition from the U.S. to a Mexican drug cartel, the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California said Jan. 24. Four of the six were arrested Jan. 19 as part of Operation Semper Infidelis conducted by a Los Angeles Strike Force investigation. The operation targeted a weapons trafficking organization that provided firearms and ammunition to the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion. The indictment charges the six individuals with conspiracy to violate federal export laws by shipping the weapons to Mexico.

Although the Department of Justice’s China’s initiative (see 2012030033) is still likely an agency priority, the program has slowed under the Biden administration and may lead to less export control and sanctions-related prosecutions, said George Pence, a trade lawyer with Akin Gump. Pence, speaking during a Jan. 20 webinar hosted by the law firm, said he thinks “criminal export and sanctions prosecutions are along for the ride but are not driving the China initiative.”

Byungsu Kim, a South Korean national, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for trying to illegally export live Dudleya succulent plants worth over $150,000 to Asia from California, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said Jan. 20. Kim and his co-conspirators removed the plants from the ground at different state parks in Northern California. Kim also has to pay $3,985 in restitution for the expense of replanting the illegally taken plants after his arrest, the judge ordered.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is adjusting its civil monetary penalties for inflation, the agency said in a notice. The new amounts include higher maximum penalties for various recordkeeping and banking violations associated with illegal funds transfers, which can sometimes violate U.S. sanctions. The changes take effect Jan. 24.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control made a technical amendment to the definition of “applicable schedule amount,” which establishes a base penalty for non-egregious sanctions violations cases that do not involve a voluntary self-disclosure. OFAC has periodically raised its “applicable schedule amount” to correspond to the agency’s civil monetary penalties, which are adjusted annually for inflation (see 2104090006). Under the new definition, the applicable schedule amount “will automatically rise with OFAC’s CMPs, removing the necessity of updating the applicable schedule amount on an annual basis,” the agency said. The change becomes effective Jan. 21.

The Bureau of Industry and Security revoked export privileges for an Idaho resident after the person tried to illegally export firearms from the U.S., BIS said Jan. 20. Khaldoun Hejazi was convicted March 2, 2020, of exporting defense articles on the U.S. Munitions List, which violated the Arms Export Controls Act. Hejazi was sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release, fined $30,000 and assessed $100. BIS denied Hejazi’s export privileges for five years from the date of conviction.

Kambiz Attar Kashani, a citizen of both the U.S. and Iran, has been charged with conspiring to illegally export U.S. goods, technology and services to the Iranian government, and others, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York said. A complaint was unsealed in the district court revealing the nature of the charges against Kashani and the extent of his alleged malfeasance. According to the complaint, Kashani conspired to ship goods, including two subscriptions to proprietary computer software, multiple fixed attenuators, six power supplies and various storage systems, to the Central Bank of Iran -- an entity recognized by the Treasury Department as an agency of the Iranian government and thus classified as a Specially Designated National. The complaint said that CBI provided assistance to "Lebanese Hizballah, a terrorist organization, and to the Qods Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps." Kashani allegedly arranged for the transshipping schemes while acting as the principal for two United Arab Emirates front companies. The defendant used the companies to procure electronic goods and technology from various U.S. technology companies for the CBI without obtaining the proper Office of Foreign Asset Control licenses, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.