An Iranian businessman was convicted of violating U.S. sanctions after he funneled more than $115 million through the U.S. financial system for a Venezuelan construction project, the Justice Department said in a March 16 press release. Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad funneled the money to his family business, the Stratus Group, which helped the Iranian International Housing Company work with U.S.-sanctioned Petroleos de Venezuela to build housing units in Venezuela. Nejad was convicted on several counts, including conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and money laundering, both of which carry a maximum 20-year prison sentence.
The Department of Commerce denied Zimo Sheng’s export privileges after Sheng was convicted of violating the Arms Export Control Act, Commerce said in a March 16 order. Sheng attempted to illegally export to China the “upper assembly” for a Glock 48 pistol, which is listed on the U.S. Munitions List. Sheng was convicted Dec. 13, 2018, and sentenced to 40 months in prison and a $200 fine. After the sentencing, Commerce said Sheng left the U.S. and his “current whereabouts are unknown” to the Bureau of Industry and Security. Commerce revoked Sheng’s export privileges for 10 years from his date of conviction.
A former senior executive of a French power and transportation company was sentenced to 15 months in prison for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Justice Department said March 6. Lawrence Hoskins of Alstom S.A. was sentenced on money-laundering charges after he worked to bribe Indonesian officials in exchange for a $118 million power-services contract. Hoskins and others paid “consultants” hundreds of thousands of dollars to bribe Indonesian officials. The Justice Department charged three former executives -- including two former Alstom employees -- with FCPA violations relating to the same case (see 2002190027).
A Tennessee resident who is an Iranian citizen pleaded guilty to smuggling more than $110,000 worth of goods from the U.S. to Iran, the Justice Department said in a March 3 news release. Aiden Davidson, manager of New Hampshire-based Golden Gate International, used the company to export $100,000 worth of motors, pumps, valves and other goods to Iran-based Babazedeh Trading Co. from 2016 to 2017, the Justice Department said. In another instance, Davidson helped export $13,000 worth of displacement pumps to Iran. In both cases, shipping documents listed the ultimate consignee as a company in Turkey.
Two Chinese nationals sanctioned by the Treasury Department were charged with laundering more than $100 million worth of cryptocurrency, the Justice Department said March 2. Tian Yinyin and Li Jiadong, who were added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals List earlier this week (see 2003020042), were charged with money laundering conspiracy and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, the Justice Department said. They allegedly worked with North Korean cyber hackers, who stole nearly $250 million worth of virtual currency, and never registered with the U.S.’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network despite conducting business in the U.S.
An Ontario resident was arrested on smuggling charges after illegally importing two firearm suppressors, according to a Feb. 28 notice from the Canada Border Services Agency. Authorities discovered the package at a mail processing center in Toronto before referring the item for “further investigation” when it found the firearm parts. Authorities also searched an Ontario residence as part of the investigation, finding six long guns, four handguns and other illegal firearm parts.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed a Thai national who pleaded guilty to illegally exporting firearms to Thailand in violation of the Arms Export Control Act, ICE said in a Feb. 26 news release. Apichart Srivaranon bought firearms parts online from U.S. gun manufacturers and had the parts shipped to addresses in the U.S. to “co-conspirators.” Once his co-conspirators received the shipments, Srivaranon told them to repackage the parts and falsely label and declare the contents as “spare parts, bicycle parts, fishing parts, or toy parts” before shipping them to Thailand through the U.S. Postal Service and private shipping companies, ICE said. Srivaranon also told them to alternate the frequency, addresses of the shipments and the value of the contents to “avoid detection.” The parts included components for AR-15 and M-16 military-style assault rifles. Srivaranon was removed from U.S. custody to Thailand Feb. 24.
A Swiss telecommunications and information technology organization agreed to pay nearly $8 million for violations of U.S. terrorism sanctions, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a Feb. 26 notice. The organization, Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques (SITA), committed more than 9,000 violations of the Global Terrorism Sanctions Regulations when it provided U.S.-origin services and software to airlines designated by OFAC.
A U.S.-sanctioned leader of a Guatemalan drug trafficking group was sentenced to 23 years in prison, the Justice Department said in a Feb. 24 press release. In 2010, Waldemar Lorenzana-Lima was listed as a specially designated narcotics trafficker under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act due to “significant roles” in international trafficking. Lorenzana-Lima and his family allegedly used a family business and agricultural holdings in Guatemala as a front to move the drugs through Central America.
The Justice Department settled its lawsuit with Chancery Staffing Solutions over claims of improper screening of non-U.S. citizens, the DOJ said in a Feb. 18 news release. The suit involved allegations that “the staffing company violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) when, at a law firm client’s directive, it screened out work authorized non-U.S. citizens and U.S. citizens with dual citizenship from a document review project without a lawful basis.”