US Telecom Company May Have Violated US Sanctions Against Sudan, SEC Filing Says
A US telecommunications company may have violated U.S. sanctions against Sudan, according to the company’s Dec. 4 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Comtech Telecommunications Corp. disclosed to the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2014 that it sent a “shipment of modems” to a Canadian customer, which was eventually “incorporated into a communication system” destined for an end-user at the Sudan Civil Aviation Authority, the filing said. OFAC subpoenaed Comtech in 2015 for information about the sale, the company said, which was worth about $288,000. Comtech responded to the subpoena and alerted OFAC of the company’s repair of three modems for a Lebanese customer who may have rerouted the modems from Lebanon to Sudan without the required U.S. license, the filing said. Comtech entered into two tolling agreements with OFAC, including one in November, which extends the statute of limitations in the case through June 2020.
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OFAC revoked its Sudanese sanctions in 2017, the company said, adding that it is “in the process of responding to certain additional questions” from OFAC. Comtech said it is “not able to predict” whether OFAC will impose an enforcement penalty given that the Sudanese sanctions are no longer in effect. The company said it may “suffer reputational harm” if OFAC takes enforcement action.