Aaron Amundson, a former longtime official with the Bureau of Industry and Security, has joined Latham & Watkins' economic sanctions and export controls practice, the law firm announced Oct. 27. Amundson spent nearly two decades with BIS, including most recently as acting director of the Office of National Security Controls and director of the Information Technology Controls Division.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Oct. 17 rejected both the government’s and law firm Husch Blackwell’s motions for judgment in a Freedom of Information Act dispute involving the Entity List. It gave the Commerce Department time to provide adequate justifications for its decisions to withhold certain information but said the ones it already provided weren’t enough (Husch Blackwell v. Department of Commerce, D.D.C. # 24-2733.
Serena Tang, who recently left her position as a trial attorney at the Federal Maritime Commission’s Bureau of Enforcement, Investigations and Compliance (see 2509290029), is joining law firm Husch Blackwell, she announced on LinkedIn Oct. 14.
Serena Tang, who enforces the Shipping Act as a trial attorney at the Federal Maritime Commission’s Bureau of Enforcement, Investigations and Compliance, said in a case filing Sept. 29 that she is resigning from the FMC effective Oct. 3. Tang has been with the commission for four years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Steven Emme, former chief strategy officer for the Bureau of Industry and Security, has joined Akin as an international trade partner, the firm announced. Emme worked multiple stints at the Commerce Department since 2007, including as BIS chief strategy officer beginning in 2023, before leaving earlier this year. His practice will focus on international trade and national security, including issues related to U.S. export control and sanctions regulations.
Chinese semiconductor company Yangtze Memory Technologies Corp. accused the Bureau of Industry and Security of illegally withholding documents related to its placement on the Entity List, adding that the government acted on "inaccurate" information from YMTC competitors when it imposed stringent export license requirements on the company in 2022. The firm also questioned whether the End-User Review Committee, the interagency group that makes decisions on adding or removing companies from the Entity List, followed proper protocol when it voted to put YMTC on the list.
Anne Fisher, a former official with the Bureau of Industry and Security's chief counsel office, has joined Hogan Lovells' international trade and investment practice, the firm said. Fisher, who left BIS in July after first joining in October 2022, will advise on U.S. export control laws, economic sanctions, customs, foreign investment and other issues. She was at Hogan Lovells before going to BIS.
An Estonian national was extradited to the U.S. on Aug. 28 to face charges of conspiracy to violate U.S. export controls by sourcing U.S.-made electronics for use by the Russian government and military, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced. Andrey Shevlyakov faces 18 total counts related to the international procurement scheme.
A U.S. business owner allegedly exported gun parts and accessories to Russia illegally by routing them through Kazakhstan and mislabeling the shipments to evade authorities, DOJ said last week. Maxim Larin, a Florida resident who owns multiple U.S.-based firearms supply companies, illegally worked with a person in Russia to evade export restrictions and ship items controlled under both the Export Administration Regulations and International Traffic in Arms Regulations, the agency said.
Dual U.S. and Russian national Vadim Yermolenko was sentenced to 30 months in prison, and ordered to forfeit $75,547, for his role in a scheme to illegally export controlled dual-use and military items to Russia as part of a Moscow-led sanctions evasion scheme. He pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy to violate the Export Control Reform Act, commit bank fraud and defraud the U.S. (see 2411010047).