Importer High Life and the U.S. settled a False Claims Act case in which the company was charged with knowingly underreporting the value of apparel entries, leading it to avoid duty payments. According to a stipulation and order of settlement filed Jan. 25 at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, High Life will pay the government $1.3 million, $650,000 of which counts as restitution. The company agreed to fully cooperate with the U.S. investigation of the other individuals and entities linked to the customs fraud scheme (United States v. High Life, S.D.N.Y. # 23-00631).

Charles McGonigal, former special agent in charge of the New York FBI counterintelligence division, and Sergey Shestakov, a Russian court interpreter and former diplomat, were charged with conspiring to commit money laundering and money laundering, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced. The two were charged with one count of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, one count of violating the IEEPA, one count of conspiring to launder money and one count of money laundering, each carrying a maximum 20-year prison sentence. Shestakov also was charged with one count of making false statements, which has a five-year maximum prison sentence.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia sentenced Mun Chol Myong, a North Korean national, to time served of 45 months in prison for money laundering offenses, DOJ announced. Mun is the first North Korean national to be extradited to the U.S., and he will be subject to deportation after the completion of his sentence, DOJ said.

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.

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.

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.

Richard Kazmaier, former associate professor of biology at West Texas A&M University, was sentenced to six months in prison, three years of post-release supervision and a $5,000 fine for "importing protected wildlife" without declaring it or getting the proper permits, DOJ announced Jan. 11. Kazmaier admitted to importing around 358 wildlife items -- skulls, skeletons and taxidermy mounts -- in violation of the Lacey Act.

Behrouz Mokhtari of McLean, Virginia, and Tehran pleaded guilty Jan. 9 to two conspiracies to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran "by engaging in business activities on behalf of Iranian entities" without getting a license from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, DOJ announced. Mokhtari will forfeit money, property and assets obtained from the schemes, including a Campbell, California, home, and a money judgment of over $2.8 million, DOJ said. The defendant faces a maximum of five years in prison for each of the two conspiracy counts.

The U.S. charged two Dubai-based companies and three individuals for their roles in a scheme to import non-organic grain to the U.S., where it would be sold as certified organic, DOJ announced. Named in an indictment unsealed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, the Dubai entities are Hakan Agro DMCC and Hakan Organics DMCC, and the individuals are Turkish citizens Goksal Beyaz, Nuray Beyaz and Mustafa Cakiroglu. All five parties were charged with conspiracy, smuggling and wire fraud.

Arturo Carlos Murillo Prijic, former Bolivian minister of government, was sentenced to 70 months in prison for conspiring to launder bribes he received for helping a U.S. firm win a contract from the Bolivian government, DOJ announced. Murillo pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering (see 2210210024).