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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Liberian national Moazu Kromah, a resident of Uganda, was sentenced to prison for conspiring to traffic in rhinoceros horns and elephant ivory worth millions of dollars, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said. Kromah will spend 63 months in prison for poaching around 35 rhinoceros and over 100 elephants.
Guillermo Gomez-Lazcano, an undocumented Mexican national living in Houston, was sentenced to federal prison for his role in a scheme to export hundreds of firearms to criminal organizations in Mexico, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas announced. Gomez-Lazcano is the 18th identified member of the scheme and pleaded guilty in April to being an alien in possession of a firearm, possessing a machine gun and engaging in the conspiracy to possess with intent to sell a controlled substance. Gomez-Lazcano was sentenced to 200 months in federal prison.
The Netherlands extradited an alleged Russia money launderer and cybercriminal to the U.S. to face charges, DOJ said this week. Denis Mihaqlovic Dubnikov has worked with others to launder the proceeds of ransomware attacks on people and entities in the U.S. and abroad, the agency said. Dubnikov laundered more than $400,000 in ransomware proceeds in July 2019, DOJ said, and faces a maximum 20-year prison sentence. The Treasury Department has issued guidance on the sanctions risks of facilitating ransomware payments (see 2010010018). The FBI has urged the agency to clarify the guidance (see 2207210058), and experts have said better reporting requirements will lead to more efficient sanctions (see 2206070027).
Arif Ugur, a Turkish national indicted last year for his role in illegally shipping defense technical data to Turkey (see 2107260014), pleaded guilty to the charges this week, DOJ said: two counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act and one count of conspiring to violate the AECA, along with two counts of wire fraud. Ugur faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for violating the AECA, and up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for conspiring to violate the AECA.