DOJ announced the resolution of two civil cases in a Texas district court on March 27 in which the government recovered around $53.1 million, including a promissory note worth $16 million, that played a part in a bribery scheme in Nigeria that violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The $53.1 million mark represented the "net liquidated value" of assets taken from Nigerian businessmen Kolawole Akanni Aluko and Olajide Omokore.

The U.S. this week charged FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act's anti-bribery provisions. Filing a superseding indictment at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York March 27, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Bankman-Fried and others paid around $40 million in cryptocurrency to one or more Chinese government officials to "induce them" to unfreeze certain cryptocurrency trading accounts held by one of Bankman-Fried's companies, Alameda Research (U.S. v. Samuel Bankman-Fried, S.D.N.Y. # 22-00673).

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week suspended the export privileges of Texas resident Obed Rafael Cuevas-Serratos for illegally exporting ammunition from the U.S. to Mexico. Cuevas-Serratos was convicted Aug. 3, 2021, for smuggling about 13,000 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition and was sentenced to 30 months of “confinement,” three years of supervised release and a $100 assessment. BIS suspended Cuevas-Serratos’ export privileges for nine years from the conviction date.

Estonian electronics exporter By Trade OU asked a court to issue a sentence against the company that would require it to forfeit all its assets as punishment for violating U.S. export controls against Russia. Filing a sentencing memorandum with the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, By Trade OU offered up its remaining assets, totalling over $337,000, since it would not be able to pay any fine ordered by the court "due to its financial resources." The company said it would then "cease operations" (United States v. By Trade OU, D. Conn. # 22-00110)

A Washington, D.C., court last week rejected a Russian citizen’s bid to dismiss government accusations that he misled investors about his company’s “key” space technology and several U.S. “adverse national security determinations” against the company. The ruling came after the Securities and Exchange Commission said Mikhail Kokorich, former CEO of space industry startup Momentus, made several “misrepresentations, false statements, and material omissions” in merger discussions with another firm, failing to disclose that the Commerce Department had rejected at least one of his company's export license applications and planned to deny another (SEC v. Mikhail Kokorich, D.D.C. # 21-1869).

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week suspended the export privileges of nine people, after eight of them were convicted of illegally exporting guns and ammunition, and one person was convicted of illegally smuggling pumps and engines.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas dismissed a suit against the State Department concerning the regulation of 3D gun file exports, saying the claims are moot because the State Department shifted export control responsibility to the Commerce Department. Judge Robert Pitman dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, saying plaintiffs Defense Distributed and Second Amendment Foundation failed to show the State Department still regulated the exports. Pitman also ruled that Defense Distributed's claim for monetary damages against the State Department belongs "to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Federal Claims."

Five people from Iran, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates were charged in two cases at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for violating the Arms Export Control Act and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, DOJ announced. They allegedly tried to obtain and export U.S. technology to Iran from 2005 to 2013.

Iranian national Mehdi Khoshghadam violated U.S. export controls by illegally shipping electrical cables and connectors from the U.S. through Hong Kong and to Iran, DOJ said March 9. Khoshghadam was charged with one count of conspiracy, one count of violating of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment also seeks to forfeit all “proceeds” earned by ​​Khoshghadam from the illegal exports.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York greenlighted the seizure of a $25 million Boeing 737-7JU aircraft owned by sanctioned Russian firm Rosneft Oil Co. DOJ said the court found probable cause to seize the aircraft due to Export Control Reform Act and Russian sanctions violations. U.S. sanctions on Russia specifically prohibit a plane made in the U.S. from entering Russia without a license. Since February 2022, the plane left and reentered Russia "at least seven times, in violation of federal law," and is currently thought to be in Russia, DOJ said March 8. The seizure warrant stemmed from the work of Task Force KleptoCapture, the interagency task force charged with enforcing U.S. sanctions on Russia.