Three Russian citizens -- legislator Aleksandr Babakov and two staff members, Aleksandr Vorobev and Mikhail Plisyuk -- were charged with conspiring to use a Russian agent in the U.S. without proper notification, violate U.S. sanctions and commit visa fraud, DOJ announced. The indictment is cited as being the work of Task Force KleptoCapture -- the U.S.'s interagency task force charged with enforcing recent sanctions action following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Xiaojian Tao and Yu Lang, residents of Helotes, Texas, were arrested for alleged export violations and their role in a scheme to defraud an unnamed research and development company, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas said. Tao is charged with one count each of illegal export of defense articles, illegally exporting commerce-controlled goods and making a false statement over the Export Control Reform Act. Both he and Yu are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney's Office said April 12.

Virgil Griffith, a U.S. citizen, was sentenced to 63 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiring to aid North Korea in evading U.S. sanctions via cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said. Griffith pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Andrew Adams, head of DOJ's "KleptoCapture" task force, charged with enforcing the deluge of Russia sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine, is targeting the personal assets of Vladimir Putin and his family, Adams told Bloomberg. Adams said this can be done by targeting individuals who have agreed to hold assets on his behalf.

Manual Dominquez, a resident of Laredo, Texas, was sentenced to 87 months in prison for possessing firearms as a convicted felon and attempting to smuggle those firearms into Mexico, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas said April 11. Dominquez was arrested after he took possession of two Barrett .50 caliber rifles, with the intent to eventually smuggle them into Mexico. The rifles were meant for members of the Cartel De Norte, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Dominquez was previously convicted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, precluding his possession of a firearm or ammunition.

A federal judge ordered six companies in Southern California to pay $1.83 billion for their role in a scheme to skirt $1.8 billion in antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum, disguised as "pallets," exported to the U.S., the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced. Two aluminum companies and four warehousing businesses, all related to each other, were sentenced to five years' probation and ordered to pay $1.83 billion in restitution. The companies were convicted last year (see 2108240013).

Brenda Belinda Barba, a resident of McAllen, Texas, pleaded guilty April 7 to illegally exporting firearms and ammunition, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas announced. Barba attempted to export a Glock 9mm and .22 caliber pistols, four Glock pistol magazines and 550 rounds of ammunition of varying caliber to Mexico, the office said. In November, Barba attempted to cross into Mexico at the Anzalduas Port of Entry, telling border authorities that she had nothing to declare. The export-controlled goods were found after an inspection of her vehicle. The defendant will be sentenced July 18 and faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine.

Roger Ng, former managing director of The Goldman Sachs Group, was convicted by a federal jury in the Eastern District of New York for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a scheme with Malaysia's state-owned investment and development fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad, DOJ announced. Ng was found guilty of conspiring to bribe a dozen foreign officials in Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates to obtain business for Goldman Sachs from 1MDB.

AA Metals Engaged in evasion of antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders on aluminum sheet from China by purchasing re-rolled sheet from Turkey, CBP said in a final determination dated March 21. The investigation, initiated in June 2020, followed a March 2020 allegation by Texarkana Aluminum that AA Metals was importing Chinese-origin aluminum sheet re-rolled by two Turkish companies, Teknik and PMS.

Konstantin Malofeyev, a Russian oligarch, was charged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York with violating U.S. sanctions in his efforts to establish television networks in Russia and Greece and acquire a television network in Bulgaria, DOJ announced April 6. Malofeyev is charged with conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions and violations of U.S. sanctions relating to the hiring of U.S. citizen and television producer Jack Hanick to set up the networks. Malofeyev allegedly transferred a $10 million investment from a U.S. bank to a business associate in Greece in violation of the U.S. asset freeze on the oligarch.