Truphone agreed to divest Russian investors and pay a $600,000 fine for failing to disclose accurate ownership stakes held by foreign entities and transferring control of FCC licenses and international section 214 authorization without agency approval. In April, the FCC had proposed a fine of $660,639. The FCC said sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich invested in the company and Truphone didn’t provide timely notice or seek commission approval. “Since 2011, Truphone’s ownership and reports regarding its foreign ownership have changed over time without accurate and requisite reporting to the Commission,” the Enforcement Bureau said in the Oct. 20 order. A Truphone spokesperson didn't respond to a request for comment.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week renewed the temporary denial order for Moscow-based air cargo carrier Aviastar. BIS first suspended the export privileges of the Russian cargo charter airline in April (see 2204210043), barring it from participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The agency renewed the denial order for another 180 days after finding Aviastar continued to illegally operate aircraft subject to the EAR, including for flights between Russia and China.
French global building materials manufacturer Lafarge along with its Syrian subsidiary, Lafarge Cement Syria, pleaded guilty on Oct. 18 to conspiring to provide material support and resources to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham and the al-Nusrah Front, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced. Both ISIS and ANF are sanctioned foreign terrorist organizations. Immediately following the guilty pleas, Judge William Kuntz sentenced the companies to probation terms and financial penalties. The companies will pay $90.78 million in criminal fines and $687 million in forfeiture, totaling $777.78 million.
Daniel Rendon Herrera, a Colombia citizen, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for leading a paramilitary, multibillion-dollar drug organization known as the Clan del Golfo and 15 years for conspiring to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization, the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced Oct. 17. Herrera also was ordered to pay $45.75 million in forfeiture. Since the late 1990s, Herrera led the AUC then later founded and led the CDG, the successor to the AUC, DOJ said. The AUC was a paramilitary and drug-trafficking organization, designated in 2001.
Laboratory equipment distributor Intertech Trading Corp. was sentenced on Oct. 17 to pay a total fine of $140,000 for failing to file export information on shipments to Russia and Ukraine, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Hampshire announced. Intertech was ordered to pay the maximum fine of $10,000 per count for 14 counts of failure to file the export information required.
The State Department announced penalties on one person and three entities and their subsidiaries for illegal transfers under the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act. The agency in a notice said the parties transferred items subject to multilateral control lists that contribute to weapons proliferation or missile production. The State Department barred them from making certain purchases of items controlled on the U.S. Munitions List and by the Arms Export Control Act and will suspend any current export licenses used by the entities. The agency also will bar them from receiving new export licenses for any goods subject to the Export Administration Regulations. The restrictions will remain in place for two years from the Oct. 3 effective date.
U.K. businessman Graham Bonham-Carter was indicted Oct. 11 for conspiring to violate U.S. sanctions on Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, wire fraud connected to funding Deripaska's American properties and working to expatriate Deripaska's U.S.-based artwork through misrepresentations, DOJ announced. The charges stem from the work of Task Force KleptoCapture, the law enforcement group tasked with enforcing the U.S.'s sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.
Eddy Johan Coopmans, a Ponte Vedra, Florida, resident, pleaded guilty Oct. 4 to conspiring to illegally export controlled technology out of the U.S. in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Texas announced. The technology included space grade field programmable gate array circuits meant for Russia and China. Cooper, along with an unnamed foreign national, communicated with individuals the pair believed would help them smuggle the technology, then paid them around $1.2 million and made false statements to government regulators, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Oct. 5. Coopmans was indicted in 2019 and faces up to five years in federal prison.
Richard Lant, a Nevada resident, pleaded guilty on Oct. 3 to conspiracy to illegally export tank helmets to Iran, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California announced. From May to October 2015, Lant and other co-conspirators, including Dariush Niknia, who pleaded guilty in September, worked to illegally sell 500 of the Russian-made tank helmets to Niknia's Iranian customer. The helmets were made for Russian-made T-72S battle tanks and have a "five-pin plug" feature needed for compatibility with a tank communication device, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security this week renewed temporary denial orders for three Russian airlines accused of violating U.S. export controls against Russia. BIS first suspended the export privileges of Aeroflot, Azur Air and UTair in April, barring the airlines from participating in transactions with items subject to the Export Administration Regulations (see 2204070010). Despite the restrictions, BIS said all three airlines have continued to operate flights into and out of Russia. The orders were renewed for another 180 days from Oct. 3.