Jacob Kopnick

The District Court for the Northern District of Texas on Oct. 1 unsealed an indictment against Russian citizen Aleksandr Ryzhenkov, the "second-in-command" of the Russian cybercriminal group Evil Corp., for using the BitPaymer ransomware variant against various U.S. individuals to "hold their sensitive data for ransom," DOJ announced.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Oct. 3 stayed the briefing schedule in a trio of cases brought by exporter Eregli Demir ve Celik Fabrikalari (Erdemir) while it considers the company's motion to consolidate the three appeals. All three cases center on the sunset review of the antidumping duty order on hot-rolled steel flat products from Turkey (Eregli Demir ve Celik Fabrikalari v. United States, Fed. Cir. # 24-2242).

The U.S. agreed to liquidate some of importer LE Commodities' steel tube entries without Section 232 duties and refund any duties paid, per the terms of a settlement reached by the parties in the importer's case against its denied requests for Section 232 exclusions (LE Commodities v. United States, CIT # 22-00245).

The Court of International Trade on Oct. 1 said court-led mediation in a suit from LE Commodities challenging 14 denied requests for exclusions from Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs resulted in a "settlement of all issues." Judge Leo Gordon led the mediation. Counsel for LE Commodities didn't respond to a request for comment on the nature of the settlement (LE Commodities v. United States, CIT # 22-00245).

The Council of the European Union on Oct. 2 appointed two new judges to the EU Court of Justice and seven new judges to the General Court. In addition, Andrea Biondi, professor of EU law at King's College London, was appointed advocate-general to the Court of Justice.

A former vice president of international cargo airline Polar Air Cargo Worldwide was sentenced to 32 months in prison on Oct. 1 for his role in scheme to defraud the airline out of more than $32 million in revenue, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced. Ahead of sentencing, the former executive, Abilash Kurien, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on Oct. 1 appointed two new members to its advisory council and reappointed two sitting members, the court announced. Jeremiah Helm, partner at Knobbe Martens, and Patrick Keane, partner at Buchanan Ingersoll, were newly appointed to the council, while Mel Bostwick of Orrick Herrington and Goutam Patnaik of Desmarais were reappointed to the council. The terms run for three years.

Importer Cozy Comfort on Oct. 1 said that the government is seeking to exclude evidence offered by the importer in its tariff classification case that the government itself is looking to enter into evidence. Cozy Comfort said the U.S. "cannot have it both ways," adding that the government's motion to exclude the evidence "is riddled with self-serving arguments, wasting the Court's time" (Cozy Comfort Co. v. United States, CIT # 22-00173).

The Court of International Trade on Oct. 1 approved increases to its transcript fee rates, the court announced. The court laid out the following prices for various transcripts: $4.40 per page for a 30-day transcript, $5.10 per page for a 14-day transcript, $5.85 per page for a seven-day transcript, $6.55 per page for a three-day transcript, $7.30 per page for a next-day transcript and $8.70 per page for a two-hour transcript. The cost of a first copy to each party is $1.10 for a 30-, 14- and seven-day transcript. Copy costs per party are $1.30 for a three-day transcript and $1.45 for a next-day and two-hour transcript.

The U.S. and Indian exporters led by Kisaan Die Tech Private Limited on Sept. 30 reached a settlement in pair of cases on the 2018-19 review of the antidumping duty order on stainless steel flanges from India (Kisaan Die Tech Private Limited v. United States, CIT Consol. # 21-00512).