Two Colorado companies and their top executives were indicted last month for conspiring to evade tariff payments on their imports of forklifts, DOJ announced on Sept. 30. The companies, Endless Sales and Octane Forklifts; current executives Brian Firkins and Jeffrey Blasdel; and former executive J.R. Antczak allegedly conspired to undervalue the forklifts from China at entry, then hide their Chinese origin and sell them to federal government agencies by declaring them to be made in the U.S.
Two Chinese nationals were recently sentenced to lengthy prison sentences for importing fentanyl precursor chemicals and money laundering through Wuhan-based chemical manufacturer Amarvel Biotech, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced last week. Qingzhou Wang, who operated as Amarvel's principal executive, was sentenced Sept. 18 to 25 years in prison, while Yiyi Chen, the company's marketing manager, was sentenced last month to 15 years.
A jury convicted a Georgia businessman on Sept. 15 for his role in a scheme to bribe Honduran government officials to secure business for a Georgia-based manufacturer of law enforcement uniforms and accessories in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, DOJ announced. Carl Zaglin was found to have paid bribes to secure business with "Comite Tecnico del Fideicomiso para la Administracion del Fondo de Proteccion y Seguridad Poblacional (TASA), a Honduran governmental entity that procured goods for the Honduran National Police and other Honduran security agencies."
Gregory Munoz, a salesperson for a Massachusetts biochemical company that DOJ said was part of an illegal export scheme involving China, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to forfeit $100,000. DOJ said Munoz pleaded guilty in 2024 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The U.S. charged Armenian national Kamo Kirakosyan this week with violating export controls after DOJ said he participated in a conspiracy to illegally export semiconductor manufacturing items from the U.S. to Russia through Armenia.
An Estonian national was extradited to the U.S. on Aug. 28 to face charges of conspiracy to violate U.S. export controls by sourcing U.S.-made electronics for use by the Russian government and military, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced. Andrey Shevlyakov faces 18 total counts related to the international procurement scheme.
DOJ launched a cross-agency "Trade Fraud Task Force" on Aug. 29 to "bring robust enforcement against importers and other parties who seek to defraud the United States," the agency announced. The task force will bring together attorneys from the agency's civil and criminal divisions, along with officials at CBP, to target tariff evasion and "smugglers who seek to import prohibited goods into the American economy."
A New York man was sentenced Aug. 27 to six months in prison for "smuggling Egyptian antiquities" into the U.S., the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced. The defendant, Ashraf Omar Eldarir, pleaded guilty earlier this year to four counts of smuggling goods through John F. Kennedy International Airport.
A U.S. business owner allegedly exported gun parts and accessories to Russia illegally by routing them through Kazakhstan and mislabeling the shipments to evade authorities, DOJ said last week. Maxim Larin, a Florida resident who owns multiple U.S.-based firearms supply companies, illegally worked with a person in Russia to evade export restrictions and ship items controlled under both the Export Administration Regulations and International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the agency said.
Jinchao Wei, a former sailor with the U.S. Navy, was found guilty this week after being accused of illegally exporting military information and technical data to China. Wei was convicted on several counts, including espionage and illegally exporting technical data related to defense articles in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 1.