The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York greenlighted the seizure of a $25 million Boeing 737-7JU aircraft owned by sanctioned Russian firm Rosneft Oil Co. DOJ said the court found probable cause to seize the aircraft due to Export Control Reform Act and Russian sanctions violations. U.S. sanctions on Russia specifically prohibit a plane made in the U.S. from entering Russia without a license. Since February 2022, the plane left and reentered Russia "at least seven times, in violation of federal law," and is currently thought to be in Russia, DOJ said March 8. The seizure warrant stemmed from the work of Task Force KleptoCapture, the interagency task force charged with enforcing U.S. sanctions on Russia.
Roger Ng, former managing director of The Goldman Sachs Group, was sentenced on March 9 to 10 years in prison for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act as part of the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York said. Federal prosecutors sought 15 years for the investment banker.
Two U.S. citizens were arrested March 2 for their role in a yearslong scheme to avoid U.S. export controls on aviation-related technology headed for Russia, DOJ announced.
Ericsson will plead guilty and pay a criminal penalty of more than $206 million after breaching provisions of a 2019 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) stemming from Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations, DOJ said March 3. Ericsson also will plead guilty to engaging in a “long-running scheme to violate" the FCPA by paying bribes, falsifying books and records, and "failing to implement reasonable internal accounting controls in multiple countries around the world,” DOJ said.
Swiss commodity trading and mining giant Glencore was ordered to pay $700 million after pleading guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in a bribery scheme spanning several countries. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York approved the settlement in a Feb. 27 order, and the company will pay a $428.5 million fine and $272 million in forfeiture as part of a plea deal reached in May 2022 (see 2205270044) (U.S. v. Glencore International, S.D.N.Y. # 22-00297).
Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi, a citizen of Lebanon and Belgium, and Talal Chahine, a Lebanese citizen, were charged as part of a conspiracy to launder money, cause U.S. citizens to conduct illegal transactions with a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and conduct illegal transactions with a sanctioned terrorist, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced Feb. 24. Each charge carries the possible punishment of up to 20 years in prison.
Glenn Oztemel of Westport, Connecticut, and Eduardo Innecco, a dual Brazilian and Italian citizen, were charged in an indictment unsealed in the District of Connecticut on Feb. 17 in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act scheme, DOJ announced. The duo allegedly violated the FCPA and committed money laundering as part of a scheme to pay bribes to Brazilian officials to obtain contracts from the Brazilian state-owned energy company Petroleo Brasileiro-Petrobras, DOJ said.
A False Claims Act whistleblower received $210,000 from a $1 million customs fraud settlement with global trading and investment firm Samsung C&T America, McInnis Law announced. The U.S. announced it settled the case over charges SCTA violated the FCA by misclassifying footwear imports via false entry documents to avoid paying customs duties (see 2302080008).
The U.S. is "sharing" around $954,807 with the Nigerian government pursuant to an agreement between the countries over repatriating assets the U.S. forfeited that were traceable to the former governor of the Nigerian state of Bayelsa, DOJ announced. The action stems from the work of the Kleptopcracy Asset Recovery Initiative, under which U.S. law enforcement looks to "recover the proceeds of foreign official corruption."
Two U.S. citizens, Christian Sanon and Frederick Bergmann, were charged with "conspiracy to commit export violations; submitting false and misleading export information; and smuggling ballistic vests from the United States to Haiti," DOJ said. The charges were announced Feb. 14 as part of a larger indictment against individuals involved in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise.