Vika Latai Moa, former operations manager for global logistics and freight forwarding company Savino Del Bene USA, pleaded guilty to embezzling over $2.6 million from the company, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas announced May 31. Moa, of Euless, Texas, worked at the Dallas office of Savino USA from 2016 to 2019. The Florence, Italy, company's U.S. subsidiary is headquartered in New Jersey.
Multinational commodity trading and mining company Glencore International pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in New York May 24 to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced. Glencore Ltd. also pleaded guilty in the District of Connecticut to conspiring to manipulate commodity prices. Collectively, Glencore International and Glencore agreed to pay over $1.1 billion to settle the investigations into bribery and commodity price manipulation.
Jonathan Yet Wing Soong, former employee at Universities Space Research Association, was charged with violating export control laws by shipping sensitive aeronautics software to a university in Beijing, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced. Soong, of San Jose, is charged with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and and one count of smuggling, which, respectively, carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, and 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares and Ricardo Enrique Martinelli Linares, brothers who are both dual citizens of Panama and Italy, were sentenced to 36 months in prison each for laundering $28 million in a bribery and money laundering scheme with Brazilian construction conglomerate Oderbrecht S.A., DOJ announced. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York also ordered the brothers to forfeit more than $18.8 million and pay a $250,000 fine along with serving two years of supervised release.
Hamzeh Jamal Alasfar and Tayseer Issam Alkhayyat, two business owners in Charlotte, North Carolina, were indicted for allegedly selling fraudulently obtained Apple iPhones and other electronic devices to buyers in the U.S. and across the globe, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina announced. The charges, which include conspiracy to transport stolen and fraudulently obtained goods in interstate commerce and two counts of interstate and foreign transportation of stolen property, carry maximum sentences of five and 10 years in prison, respectively. All charges carry a maximum $250,000 fine per count as well.
Technology executive Obaidullah Syed, of Northbrook, Illinois, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for illegally exporting computer equipment to a nuclear research agency in Pakistan, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced May 18. Syed pleaded guilty in 2021 to conspiring to ship the goods without a license and to submit false export information. Before sentencing, Syed forfeited $247,000 of cash derived from the illegal sales.
A federal magistrate judge at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled in an order unsealed May 13 that the U.S. had probable cause to believe that an unnamed American citizen violated U.S. sanctions by using cryptocurrency to help various parties evade restrictions. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui ruled that virtual currency is traceable and that sanctions apply to virtual currency (In Re: Criminal Complaint, D.D.C. #22-00067).
The Commerce Department again renewed a temporary export denial order for Mahan Airways because the airline continues to violate the order and the Export Administration Regulations, according to a May 13 notice. Mahan Airways has been on the banned list since 2008, and Commerce said the Iranian airline increased its services into Moscow in April after the U.S. and other countries imposed sanctions and export controls against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine (see 2202240069 and 2203180049). The latest renewal is for 180 days from May 13.
Nathan Horton, a Georgia resident, was sentenced to one year and a day in prison for illegally trapping and exporting thousands of freshwater turtles in Georgia, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced. Horton's actions were found to be in violation of the Lacey Act -- the statute that makes it illegal to knowingly export wildlife that has been illegally collected in violation of state law. From 2015 to 2017, Horton captured thousands of freshwater turtles via turtle nets -- an illegal article under Georgia state law -- shipping the turtles from Georgia to California. The ultimate destination of the turtles was Asia, and the operation netted Horton over $150,000, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. In addition to the yearlong sentence, Horton will serve three years of supervised release and will pay a $10,000 fine. The defendant also will have to complete 200 hours of community service and is banned from trapping turtles and other wildlife for the entire term of his supervised release.
Laboratory instrument manufacturer Thermo Fisher Scientific Chemicals Inc. agreed to pay $25,000 to settle allegations it violated the Controlled Substances Act by illicitly buying and distributing regulated chemicals, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced April 29. Thermo Fisher Scientific Chemicals Inc., an affiliate of Thermo Fisher Scientific, failed to file export declarations when shipping covered chemicals to foreign customers, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The customers were other Thermo Fisher affiliates in India, the U.K. and South Korea, according to the settlement agreement.