Two businessmen -- Russian national Vladislav Osipov and British national Richard Masters -- were charged for their roles in a sanctions evasion and money laundering scheme connected with the ownership and operation of the $90 million superyacht Tango, DOJ announced. The yacht is owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg. Per the terms of the indictments unsealed Jan. 20 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Osipov and Masters are accused of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and commit offenses against the U.S., violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and money laundering, DOJ said.

The Supreme Court of the U.S. held oral arguments on Jan. 17 over Turkish state-owned Halkbank's claims that the U.S. judicial system does not have the jurisdiction to hear criminal cases against foreign governments and their state-owned entities. Halkbank is attempting to shirk prosecution over its efforts to help Iran evade U.S. sanctions in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The bank's arguments received a mixed reaction from the Supreme Court, with numerous justices expressing doubt over the plaintiff's claims that it is immune from criminal prosecution under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. U.S., #21-1450).

Jonathan Yet Wing Soong of Castro Valley, California, pleaded guilty Jan. 17 to violating export controls by conspiring to ship aeronautics software to a Beijing university, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced. Soong admitted to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, making him subject to a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network adjusted its civil monetary penalties for inflation, the agency said in a notice this week. The new amounts include higher maximum penalties for various recordkeeping and banking violations associated with illegal funds transfers, which can sometimes violate U.S. sanctions. The changes take effect Jan. 19.

Electronics distribution company Broad Tech System and its president and owner, Tao Jiang of Riverside, California, pleaded guilty Jan. 11 to participating in a conspiracy to illegally ship chemicals made or distributed by a Rhode Island-based company to a Chinese firm with ties to the Chinese military, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Rhode Island announced. Jiang and Broad Tech admitted to violating the Export Control Act and conspiring to commit money laundering.

The Bureau of Industry and Security last week revoked the export privileges of three people for trying to illegally send items to China and Mexico.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit in a Jan. 9 opinion upheld a district court ruling sentencing Chinese national Shuren Qin to two years in prison for violating federal export controls. Qin was found guilty of shipping hydrophones with anti-submarine applications to a Chinese military university on the Commerce Department's Entity List (see 2109090033). Judges David Barron, Jeffrey Howard and William Kayatta ruled the search of Qin's laptop and cellphone "constituted a border search that was supported by reasonable suspicion that Qin was engaged in the ongoing violation of export laws," and the defendant was properly convicted (United States v. Shuren Qin, 1st Cir. # 21-1832).

The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls this week updated its redline document to reflect a recent revision to its maximum monetary penalty amounts. The document uses colors to highlight text that has been deleted, moved and revised in the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control is adjusting its civil monetary penalties for inflation, the agency said in a notice. The new amounts include higher maximum penalties for violations of the Trading With the Enemy Act, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act and the Clean Diamond Trade Act. The agency also updated two references to “one-half the IEEPA maximum CMP from $165,474 to $178,290” and adjusted the record-keeping CMPs in OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines. The changes take effect Jan. 13.

The State Department is adjusting its civil monetary penalties for inflation, the agency said in a notice released Jan. 10. The new amounts, which include revised maximum penalties for violations of the International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Arms Export Control Act, will apply only to penalties assessed on or after Jan. 11, the agency said. For penalties adjusted “according to recent legislation,” the new amounts will apply only to penalties “assessed for violations occurring on or after December 27, 2022.”