Dubai Company Pays $2.8 million for Alleged Export Violations
A Dubai company agreed to pay $2.8 million in civil penalties for allegedly exporting Internet monitoring equipment to Syria in violation of the Export Administration Regulations, the Bureau of Industry and Security announced April 25. The United Arab Emirates company, Computerlinks FZCO, allegedly violated the EAR three different times in 2010 and 2011, unlawfully exporting and reexporting equipment and software used to monitor and control Internet traffic to Syria, BIS said. Besides the civil penalty -- the statutory maximum -- Computerlinks agreed to submit to independent, third-party audits, BIS said. The materials, obtained from California company Blue Coat Systems, are controlled for national security, anti-terrorism and encryption reasons, BIS said. The materials are valued at about $1.4 million.
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The U.S. has a “long-standing and widely-known trade embargo against Syria,” BIS said in its order on Computerlinks. “With the exception of certain medicines and food, no item subject to the Regulations may be exported or reexported to Syria without a Department of Commerce license.”
Computerlinks was an authorized Blue Coat distributor for the Middle East, sending the company’s products and providing support services to resellers and end users, BIS said. Those services included sales, installation support and assistance. The two companies had a distribution agreement, in which Computerlinks agreed to “comply with all export and import laws, rules, policies, procedures, restrictions, and regulations of the Department of Commerce,” BIS said. That agreement also had additional safeguards specific to Computerlinks, including that all orders to Blue Coat were to specify the end user of the ordered item.
Computerlinks provided Blue Coat with false information “concerning the end user and ultimate destination of the items in connection with these transactions,” BIS said. In October 2010, Computerlinks ordered eight devices for monitoring and controlling web traffic, along with accompanying equipment and software, from Blue Coat, BIS said. Computerlinks listed the end user as the Iraq Ministry of Telecom. Blue Coat shipped the devices from its Netherlands facility to the U.A.E. Computerlinks then directed the items’ transfer within the country before shipping the devices to Syria for use by the state-run Syrian Telecommunications Establishment, BIS said.
In December of that same year, Computerlinks requested six more of the same devices, also listing the end user as the Iraq Ministry of Telecom. In May 2011, the company ordered five of the devices, listing the end user as Afghan Internet service provider Liwalnet, BIS said. “Computerlinks FZCO knew that the items were destined for end users in Syria, as evidenced by email discussions between Computerlinks FZCO, resellers and forwarders that indicated the final destination was Syria, shipping documents showing Syria as the ultimate destination, and wire transfer payment made from Syria for the items,” BIS said.