Chinese national Qiang Hu, a/k/a Johnson Hu, 47, was charged in a complaint with conspiracy to violate the Export Administration Regulations and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, in a complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. Hu was arrested May 22 in North Andover. The complaint alleges that Hu's employment at MKS Instruments Shanghai gave him access to MKS manufactured parts, including export-controlled pressure-measuring sensors (manometer types 622B, 623B, 626A, 626B, 627B, 722A, and 722B), which are commonly known as pressure transducers. Pressure transducers are export controlled because they are used in gas centrifuges to enrich uranium and produce weapons-grade uranium, the Justice Department said.

An upstate New York man was sentenced May 16 to three years probation and ordered to pay restitution of $13,377 for importing counterfeit Viagra and Cialis tablets into the U.S., said Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to court documents, between January and June 2011, Curtis Henry, 53, of Rochester, ordered more than 700 counterfeit Viagra and Cialis tablets from a source in China. After receiving the counterfeit pharmaceutical tablets, Henry sold them in Rochester. This investigation was done by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The International Trade Administration’s determination not to apply Adverse Facts Available (AFA) to Plaintiff Tianjin Magnesium International Co., Ltd. (TMI) in the final results of its 2008-09 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on pure magnesium from China (A-570-832), despite knowledge that TMI had submitted falsified documentation to the ITA, was remanded to the ITA by the Court of International Trade for further proceedings. CIT agreed with Defendant-Intervenor U.S. Magnesium’s arguments, and said the ITA’s final results did not provide an adequate basis for its decision.

The Court of International Trade denied a motion by patent-holder PPC to participate as amicus curiae in an action challenging U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s denial of plaintiff Corning Gilbert Inc.’s protests relating to CBP’s exclusion of its coaxial cable connectors pursuant to an International Trade Commission general exclusion order. CIT said participation in actions challenging the denial of protests is generally limited to the importer and the government, and the broad scope of PPC’s requested involvement would be akin to granting a motion to intervene, which is statutorily barred by 28 USC 2631(j)(1)(a).

A former manager of a Netherlands-based freight-forwarding company was sentenced to six months in prison for conspiring to defraud the U.S. by facilitating the illegal export of goods to Iran, said the Justice Department. Ulrich Davis, 50, a Dutch citizen, had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. through the violation of a Bureau of Industry and Security Temporary Denial Order (TDO). According to DoJ, a co-conspirator bought U.S.-origin goods from a New Jersey company, among others, for businesses and governmental agencies of Iran, and Davis and the co-conspirator arranged for their shipment to Iran. The New Jersey company was in the business of reselling chemicals, lubricants, sealants and other products used in the aircraft industry.

The owner of a San Jose, CA, boutique that sells women's clothing and handbags was arrested Tuesday on federal charges for trafficking in counterfeit goods, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Hau Phuc Nguyen, 30, is charged with one count of conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and five counts of trafficking in counterfeit goods. According to the indictment, Nguyen conspired with others to import counterfeit Chanel and Louis Vuitton purses from China, Hong Kong and Korea, and sold them at her shop, Cizi’s Handbags.

A New Jersey woman was sentenced to three years of probation, six months of home confinement and a $44,215.50 fine on charges of trafficking in counterfeit M·A·C cosmetics and accessory items, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE said Lynn Lavigne, 61, of Vineland, NJ, received the cosmetics from a supplier in China, and continued buying and selling the cosmetics after repeated notices by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol that the merchandise was counterfeit and subject to forfeiture.

The Department of Justice seized more than $1.5 million in proceeds from the distribution of counterfeit sports apparel and jerseys, reported Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE said the seizures were pursuant to an investigation of Chinese sales of counterfeit profession and sports apparel, in which ICE announced the seizure of a further $896,000 in April 2012.

The Court of International Trade denied Thai plaintiff KYD Inc.’s motion for reconsideration of CIT’s January 2012 affirmance of the International Trade Administration’s second remand redetermination of the 2006-07 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on polyethylene retail carrier bags from Thailand (A-579-821). KYD said CIT did not address its argument in the January 2012 proceedings that the 94.62% Adverse Facts Available (AFA) rate assigned to KYD by the second remand redetermination and affirmed by CIT violated the excessive fines and forfeitures clause of the 8th Amendment.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement reported that Kevin Demetri Britton, 19, of Washington, D.C., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen motor vehicles, following an investigation led by ICE. According to his plea agreement, between 2010 and April 2011, Britton was an active participant in a conspiracy to ship stolen cars from the United States to countries in West Africa for resale. Members of the conspiracy in the United States hired others to steal late model vehicles -- with the keys -- so that the vehicles could be more easily sold.