Daniel D'Andrea Golindano and Luis Javier Sanchez Rangel, two former senior Venezuelan prosecutors, were charged with money laundering for accepting over $1 million in bribes in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act matter, DOJ said March 8. Each is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property. D'Andrea and Sanchez face up to 20 years in prison for the conspiracy to commit money laundering charge and up to 10 years in prison for each count of engaging in transactions in criminally derived property.

Joe Sery, former owner and CEO of San Diego-based Tungsten Heavy Powder & Parts, and his brother, Dror Sery, were arrested and charged with violating federal export laws by shipping defense products listed on the U.S. Munitions List without obtaining a proper export license, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California said March 4. The Sery brothers' alleged actions violated export laws under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations. The brothers are charged with conspiracy to commit offenses against the U.S., exportation of defense articles without a license and criminal forfeiture. The latter charge has a maximum 20-year prison sentence and $1 million fine.

DOJ said Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson breached the terms of its 2019 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) by failing to disclose information from an internal investigation into alleged misconduct in Iraq, Ericsson said in a SEC filing. Ericsson's disclosure about the investigation, which covered conduct in 2011-2019, was insufficient, DOJ told the company March 1. Ericsson said it's in communication with DOJ over the facts of the DPA breach and "it is premature to predict the outcome of this matter" at this stage.

Jorge Orencel, of Silver Spring, Maryland, was sentenced to six months in federal prison and one year of supervised release for attempting to smuggle goods out of the U.S. without the necessary export license, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland said Feb. 22. Orencel, who pleaded guilty, was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine for attempting to ship a fission chamber and five ionization chambers to a company in Hong Kong.

Guatemalan national Rafael Orlando Ramirez Barillas was extradited to the U.S. from Guatemala to face cocaine trafficking and maritime smuggling charges in California, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California said. Barillas appeared in court Feb. 17 and was ordered detained pending his trial. The Department of Justice alleges that Barillas was a leader in a two-year conspiracy to amass cocaine in Guatemala with the ultimate goal of sending it to the U.S. During the investigation into this conspiracy, the Coast Guard seized multiple shipments of cocaine from vessels in international waters that were linked to Barillas, DOJ said.

Mohsen Mohammadi-Mohammadi, an Iranian national who has lived in Iran and Laredo, Texas, was sentenced to 40 months in prison for his role in an international trade-based money laundering scheme, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas said Feb. 9. District Court Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo also ordered the forfeiture of $177,345 -- the amount of the money laundered through Mohammadi's business. From 2011 to 2013, Mohammadi and others conspired to launder drug trafficking money through a scheme dubbed the "Black Market Peso Exchange." The co-conspirators would pick up the drug proceeds from various U.S. cities then transport it to Laredo, where the money was then laundered through commodities businesses such as perfume vendors, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Mohammadi's business was called Mav Trading Inc.

A Corona, California, customs broker was arrested Feb. 10 on a federal grand jury indictment charging him in a scheme to defraud a Japanese variety store. Broker Frank Seung Noah was charged with tax evasion and wire fraud involving customs duties. The indictment says he evaded payment of $1.5 million in taxes and engaged in a $3.4 million wire fraud scheme that overcharged one of his clients, Daiso, the variety store. Noah owned and operated Comis International Inc., a logistics and supply-chain firm that provided customs brokerage services to companies, including Daiso.

The U.S. accused China-based telecommunications company Hytera Communications Corp. of conspiring to commit theft of trade secrets by working with former employees of Motorola Solutions Inc. to steal their former employer's digital mobile radio technology. Laying out the claims against Hytera in an unsealed indictment filed at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, the Department of Justice said that the former Motorola employees left Motorola to work for Hytera then lied about their intended moves in exit interviews with the Chicago-based company. On their way out the door, the former employees took proprietary and trade secret information for the DMR technology. Hytera stands accused of conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets and individual counts of possession or attempted possession of stolen trade secrets. The co-defendants' names were redacted in the indictment. The Chinese firm faces a fine of three times the value of the stolen trade secrets, including expenses for research, design and other costs.

Emiliano Rodriguez, a Dominican Republic citizen living in Philadephia, was arrested and charged with trafficking counterfeit goods and delivering hazardous materials by air carrier in a scheme to place counterfeit goods in used vehicles, the U.S. Attorneys' Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said. In this scheme, the used vehicles were then resold to "unsuspecting customers." From January 2017 through October 2019, Rodriguez, an auto mechanic, imported counterfeit airbags from China, placing the parts in used vehicles and then flipping them to customers. In all, federal agents seized over 450 counterfeit airbags from Rodriguez's home and business, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Rodriguez faces a maximum sentence of 20 years and fines of over $2 million if convicted. “The hazards posed to unsuspecting motorists and the general public by the alleged actions of the defendant in this case are enormous, and could have ramifications for years to come,” U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams said. “Safety equipment as important as vehicle airbags are subject to strict quality control standards to keep everyone safe, therefore when corners are cut by utilizing counterfeit goods, the consequences can be disastrous."

Saber Fakih of the United Kingdom pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to illegally exporting and attempting to export an industrial microwave system (IMS) and counter-drone system to Iran, the Department of Justice said. Fakih also admitted conspiring with Bader Fakih of Canada; Altaf Faquih from the United Arab Emirates; and Alireza Taghavi of Iran. Fakih's actions violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulation, DOJ said Jan. 27.