Former U.S. Navy sailor Ye Sang "Ivy" Wang of San Diego was sentenced to 30 months in prison and fined $20,000 for conspiring with her husband, Shaohua "Eric" Wang, to illegally export military equipment to China, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California said. Ivy Wang bought military equipment for Naval Special Warfare units as part of her duties in her role as a logistics specialist first class assigned to the Naval Special Warfare Command in 2015-2019. In March 2018, Wang ordered a device for identifying U.S. military personnel in the field -- an item that was subject to Commerce Department export controls. Deployed in Iraq at the time the object arrived in San Diego, Wang told her command that the package containing the device was something she bought for her husband for a camping trip, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Instead, she bought the device so her husband could resell it to China for a profit. In October 2018, Ivy Wang told agents interviewing her that her husband was illegally shipping military equipment to China. Even still, Ivy Wang took the device from her Navy command and gave it to her husband, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Eric Wang pleaded guilty in 2019 to illegally selling export-controlled military equipment to China through his business and using his wife's Navy position to buy the equipment. Eric Wang also admitted to maintaining a warehouse in China to keep the equipment, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. “This defendant used her position of trust to put the Navy and the nation at risk, and the sentence imposed today holds her accountable for her actions,” acting U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said.
The State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls released its notifications to Congress of recently proposed export licenses. The 24 notifications, from July through September, feature arms sales to numerous countries, including the U.K., Israel, Australia, Canada, France, South Korea, Spain, Qatar, Italy, Germany and the United Arab Emirates.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Dec. 22 sanctioned three people and two entities for operating a Brazil-based support network for al-Qaida. The designations target Haytham Ahmad Shukri Ahmad Al-Maghrabi, Mohamed Sherif Mohamed Mohamed Awadd, Ahmad Al-Khatib and two companies: Home Elegance Comercio de Moveis Eireli and Enterprise Comercio de Moveis e Intermediacao de Negocios Eireli.
Australia’s new Magnitsky-style sanctions laws took effect Dec. 21, allowing the country to craft specific sanctions against human rights abusers, corrupt actors and “significant cyber incidents,” the country’s foreign affairs and trade department said this week. Its parliament earlier this month passed the rules, which had been under review for several years (see 2112020021).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control published a new fact sheet, three new general licenses and other guidance to help humanitarian aid flow more easily to Afghanistan. The six-page guidance describes the various general licenses available for transactions involving Afghanistan, which now cover certain U.S. government activities, transactions involving international organizations and other humanitarian work. The guidance comes after months of banks and non-governmental organizations asking OFAC to provide more assurances that they won’t be caught by sanctions (see 2109020064).
The Biden administration needs to more quickly impose powerful, multilateral sanctions against Russia for threatening further military actions in Ukraine, security experts said. But coordinated sanctions with Europe could be challenging, the experts said, and may not deter Russia if the restrictions are enacted too late.
Russia has imposed travel bans on a "proportionate number of British representatives who are deeply involved in anti-Russian activities" in response to the U.K.'s designation of seven Russian citizens over the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Russia's Foreign Ministry announced Dec. 17. Russia did not specify which individuals it listed. The foreign ministry said it considers the U.K.'s latest sanctions move to be "practical confirmation of the British government's intention to continue its destructive course in bilateral affairs."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Dec. 21 removed one person listed under two entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List. The agency deleted the entry for Rodrick Grech, also known as Roderick Grech, a Malta national who was originally sanctioned in 2018 for ties to illegal fuel smuggling between Libya and Europe. OFAC didn’t release more information.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
The Commerce Department published its fall 2021 regulatory agenda for the Bureau of Industry and Security, including a new mention of an export control rule for crime-control items and a rule that would reorganize provisions of the foreign direct product rule in federal regulations.