The CEO of an Iranian financial services company pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate U.S. sanctions, the Justice Department said June 16. Payment24 CEO Seyed Sajjad Shahidian used the company to help Iranian citizens avoid U.S. financial sanctions, which included purchases of U.S. computer software, software licenses and computer servers. Shahidian, a business partner and Payment24 were charged in May (see 2005190022).

A Chinese national was sentenced to three years in prison after trying to illegally export a radio designated as a defense article to China, the Justice Department said in a June 12 press release. Qingshan Li bought the export-controlled radio -- a U.S. military Harris Falcon III AN/PRC 152A -- in the U.S. and picked it up from a San Diego storage unit last year. Li intended to take the radio to Tijuana, Mexico, in order to ship it to China from there because of Mexico’s lack of export control rules. Li was eventually stopped by U.S. authorities, who found the radio and other military equipment in his bag, the Justice Department said. Li said he knew the radio was export controlled, the agency said.

A Louisiana chemical manufacturer agreed to forfeit nearly $2 million for illegally exporting controlled chemicals, the Department of Justice said in a June 10 news release. Natural Advantage, controlled by Carol Callahan Byrne and Brian Byrne, distributed and exported more than 1,500 kilograms of controlled chemicals within the U.S. and worldwide without the required Drug Enforcement Administration registrations and despite DEA warnings, DOJ said. Company executives knew about the unlicensed sales and arranged to use other U.S. companies to sell the controlled List 1 chemicals -- including piperonal, heliotropine and phenylacetic acid -- to foreign customers.

The U.S. is looking to seize a Waltham, Massachusetts, home from two people who allegedly used it to illegally export goods to several countries, including China, the Department of Justice said in a June 11 news release. Anni Beurklian, a naturalized citizen, and her husband, Antoine Ajaka, a Lebanese citizen and legal U.S. resident, used the home as a base for their company, Top Tech US Inc., which allegedly exported electronics and computer equipment illegally, DOJ said. Beurklian and Ajaka fled the U.S. in 2018 during plea negotiations to avoid prosecution, it said.

The U.S. is seeking to withdraw a case against a man convicted of violating U.S. sanctions on Iran (see 2003180019), according to court records filed June 5. U.S. prosecutors said the case should be dropped due to “disclosure-related issues” during the March trial, which would likely lead to “continued litigation about” suppression of evidence. “The Government has determined that it would not be in the interests of justice to further prosecute this case,” prosecutors said in a letter to the court.

The Justice Department is seeking a $20 million forfeiture from Kenneth Zong, who allegedly violated U.S. sanctions against Iran and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the agency said in a June 3 news release. Zong worked with three Iranian nationals to illegally convert their money in a South Korean bank account into U.S. dollars, the Justice Department said. To do this, Zong engaged in “fraudulent transactions” and laundered money through a “host” of shell company bank accounts “in multiple jurisdictions,” including the U.S., the United Arab Emirates and South Korea. The funds were valued at about $1 billion, but about $20 million was used to try to buy a hotel in Tbilisi, Georgia, the agency said.

An aircraft holding company is suing the Treasury Department after the agency blocked a transaction involving the company and an alleged Specially Designated Global Terrorist, according to court records filed June 2. In the lawsuit, Seychelles-registered Askan Holdings, owned by Romania-based Transylvania International Airlines SRL, argued that no sanctioned party was involved in the transaction and said the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control failed to identify the blocked party or grant Askan a license. Askan is asking a court to order OFAC to grant the license or to stop blocking the transaction.

The Commerce Department again renewed an export denial order for Mahan Airways because the airline continues to violate the order and the Export Administration Regulations, according to a May 29 notice. The Iranian airline has been on the banned list since 2008, and the notice renewed the ban for 180 days, until about Dec. 2, 2020, Commerce said. Since last renewing Mahan’s denial order in December (see 1912050032), the U.S. sanctioned a China-based logistics company for operating as a sales agent for Mahan Airways (see 2005190020 and 2005200027).

A North Korean bank and 28 North Korean and Chinese citizens were charged with evading U.S. sanctions, according to an indictment unsealed May 28. The scheme -- which included branches of North Korea’s state-owned Foreign Trade Bank in Thailand, Libya, Austria, Russia, Kuwait and China -- involved a series of front companies used to access the U.S. financial system. The scheme allowed the banks to process at least $2.5 billion in illegal payments through more than 250 front companies, which provided funding for North Korea’s nuclear missile programs.

A Texas man pleaded guilty to involvement in a scheme to illegally export 17 million cigarettes to Mexico, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said May 26. The cigarettes originated from a warehouse controlled and operated by Jose Francisco Guerra, who authorities later discovered owned a second warehouse with contraband cigarettes. The warehouses contained nearly 423 million contraband cigarettes destined for export to Mexico, ICE said. Authorities uncovered the scheme when they stopped a tractor trailer heading to Mexico with the cigarettes and a falsified shipping manifest, ICE said. The cigarettes on the truck also did not have “the applicable tax stamp” required by Texas law. As part of his plea, Guerra agreed to forfeit his customs broker license and various equipment and assets. The total value of the seized equipment and assets was about $88 million, ICE said. Guerra faces up to 10 years in prison and a potential $250,000 fine.