The Pennsylvania State University  located in University Park, Pennsylvania, has agreed to pay $1,250,000 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by failing to comply with cybersecurity requirements in fifteen contracts or subcontracts involving the Department of Defense (DoD) or National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The settlement in this case provides for the whistleblower, the former chief information officer for Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory, to receive a $250,000 share of the settlement amount

A Chinese national pleaded guilty October 17 to charges associated with the shipment of semiconductor manufacturing equipment without the required export license. In pleading guilty, Lin Chen, 65, admitted to procuring a wafer cutting machine on behalf of an entity designated on the Department of Commerce’s Entity List.

A middle eastern sales executive for a US mining equipment company was found guilty of participating in a ruse to ship equipment to Iran while representing to his employer the destination was Iraq. Brian Assi conspired with individuals in Tehran, Iran, to export U.S.-made heavy machinery indirectly to Iran without first obtaining the required licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General (PADAG) Marshall Miller addressed the New York City Bar Compliance Institute, delivering a comprehensive overview of the Department of Justice’s …

A Florida woman was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for her role in a scheme to sell Turkish - origin components to the Department of Defense, misrepresenting the country of origin and manufacturing specifications. The components were intended for use in the Navy Nimitz and Ford Class Aircraft Carriers, Navy Submarines, Marine Corps Armored Vehicles, and Army M-60 Series Tank and Abrahams Battle Tanks, among other weapons systems.

Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) added 26 entities to the Entity List, while giving relief to one Canadian firm for substantive reforms to its business practices. Sandvine Incorporated, an entity listed under the destinations of Canada, India, Japan, Malaysia, Sweden, and the UAE, has been removed following significant reforms to address and prevent the misuse of its technology in ways that undermine democracy and abuse human rights

In a case illustrating the long arm of US sanctions enforcement, Hanoi - based Vietnam Beverage Company Limited has agreed to pay $860,000  on behalf of two of its subsidiaries for apparent violations of OFAC sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).  The Thai-controlled brewer settled potential fines of nearly $16 million related to $1.4 million of shopments to North Korea.

Compliance-challenged defense contracting giant RTX has agreed to pay nearly $1 billion to settle charges of government contract fraud, foreign bribery, and export control violations. The settlement comes on the heels of a $200 million settlement in August with the State Department [12717] for a raft of  export control violations.  

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that Moog Inc., a New York-based global manufacturer of motion controls systems for aerospace, defense, industrial and medical markets, agreed to pay a civil penalty of $1.1 million to resolve the SEC’s charges that it violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) arising out of bribes paid by its wholly owned Indian subsidiary, Moog Motion Controls Private Limited .

The Justice Department has filed a civil lawsuit against Paul Bakhoum, who was the Vice President for Operations for Ecosolargy Inc., a California Corporation that imported Chinese-manufactured solar panels into the United States. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Bakhoum made false statements to customs officials and, as a result, avoided paying harmonized tariff schedule (HTS), antidumping and countervailing duties owed on the imported solar panels.

Toronto Dominion Bank will pay over $3 billion in fines and is subject to a cap on US growth after regulators uncovered widespread money laundering failures in the banks Philadelphia and Miami operations. Prosecutors said the bank operated with inadequate guards against money laundering for nearly a decade, failing to act even when staff flagged obvious cases of abuse, such as a customer making daily deposits of $1m in cash.

Two Russian nationals were charged Thursday for export control violations, smuggling, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with a scheme to procure U.S.-sourced microelectronics subject to U.S. export controls on behalf of a Russia-based supplier of critical electronics components for manufacturers supplying weaponry and other equipment to the Russian military.

Precision Castparts Corp. settled allegations that it violated the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) in connection with unauthorized exports of technical data to foreign-person employees from Bhutan, Burundi, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and Peru pertaining to tools (specifically, wax pattern and core dies) and wax patterns consumed in the subsequent production of casting blades used in gas turbine engines

The Justice Department announced the unsealing of a warrant authorizing the seizure of 41 internet domains used by Russian intelligence agents and their proxies to commit computer fraud and abuse in the United States. As an example of public-private operational collaboration the Department acted concurrently with a Microsoft civil action to restrain 66 internet domains used by the same actors

After a particularly slow second quarter, FCPA enforcement activity picked up between July and September of 2024, with the DOJ initiating one new FCPA-related enforcement action, unsealing two previously filed actions, and issuing one declination letter, according to a tally from Stanford University's FCPA Clearinghouse. "Enforcement activity through Q3 of this year remained well below even the last three years of lower than average enforcement" the report notes

The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published its second quarterly update of the boycott Requester List October 1st.  This list notifies companies, financial institutions, freight forwarders, individuals, and other U.S. persons of potential sources of certain boycott-related requests they may receive during the regular course of business. Of note, many recent reports come from customers outside the Arab world, including Japan, Brazil, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom.   The greatest number of non-arab boycott requests originated in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Pakistan. 

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) imposed a civil penalty of $151,875 against Quantum Corporation, a data storage, management, and protection company  to resolve 45 alleged violations of the antiboycott provisions of the Export Administration Regulations (EAR).  Between July 2018 and December 2019, Quantum received 45 requests from its customer, a distributor located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to refrain from importing goods of Israeli origin into the UAE in fulfillment of purchase orders from that customer. Quantum failed to report to BIS the receipt of these requests.  

The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) announced an administrative settlement against a Texas aviation supply firm, for the submission of a backdated document to make it appear that a transaction complied with the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and for exporting military parts without BIS authorization.  

On Monday, September 23, DOJ’s Criminal Division announced updates to its guidance for evaluating corporate compliance programs (“ECCP”). . Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri discussed the revisions in her remarks at the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics 23rd Annual Compliance & Ethics Institute, emphasizing the DOJ's efforts to encourage corporations to invest in robust compliance programs and report misconduct when it occurs.

The Justice Department Friday unsealed an indictment charging three Iranian nationals with a conspiracy to hack into accounts of current and former U.S. officials, members of the media, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals associated with U.S. political campaigns.