Latvian citizen Oleg Chistyakov was charged with violating U.S. export laws as part of a scheme to ship "sophisticated avionics equipment" to Russian companies, DOJ announced last week. The agency noted Chistyakov is the third person to be charged in connection to the scheme, which was led by Kansas company KanRus Trading Co.

Switzerland-based international commodities trading firm Trafigura Beheer will pay over $126 million after pleading guilty to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by bribing Brazilian government officials to obtain business with state-owned oil company Petrobras, DOJ announced.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia earlier this month granted the U.S. motion for forfeiture of about $17 million from Iraqi airline Al-Naser Airlines, representing the amount of laundered payments involved in the company's scheme to evade export controls and sanctions by "illicitly procuring U.S.-origin aircraft for the benefit of an Iranian airline [Mahan Air]." The court said that the government "fulfilled its notice obligations" prior to a forfeiture and that the complaint against the airline's funds contains verified allegations that "establish the facts necessary to support a civil forfeiture" (U.S. v. $3,435,935 of Funds From Al-Naser Airlines, D.D.C. # 15-01687).

Zhiwei "Allen" Liao was sentenced to 51 months in prison and ordered to pay $120,370 for his role in an "international conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit Apple products," the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California announced March 25. He also was ordered to forfeit two residences and 200 Apple devices.

The Bureau of Industry and Security last week suspended the export privileges of one person for illegally providing services to Iran and two people for illegal weapons shipments to Mexico.

Canadian national Klaus Pflugbeil, a resident of China, was arrested March 19 for allegedly conspiring to send an unnamed U.S. electric vehicle company's trade secrets to "undercover law enforcement officers," DOJ announced. Pflugbeil allegedly conspired with Chinese national Yilong Shao to send the trade secrets. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if convicted.

The D.C. U.S. District Court on March 11 dismissed a lawsuit from a senior Democratic Republic of Congo elections official challenging his sanctions designation, saying the listing wasn't "arbitrary or capricious" and that due process laws weren't violated.

The Bureau of Industry and Security recently suspended the export privileges of 10 people for illegally exporting either weapons, ammunition or sensitive documents to Russia, China, Haiti or Mexico.

Sai Keung Tin, a Chinese national, was indicted March 8 on four counts of illegally exporting eastern box turtles, a "protected wildlife species," from the U.S. to China for the "global pet trade black market," DOJ announced. Tin faces a maximum 10-year prison stint for each smuggling count.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on March 12 affirmed a federal D.C. court's dismissal of Venezuelan national Samark Jose Lopez Bello's suit against his designation as a narcotics trafficker under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (Samark Jose Lopez Bello v. Andrea M. Gacki, D.C. Cir. # 21-01727).