Gal Haimovich, an Israeli national, pleaded guilty Sept. 9 to conspiracy to commit export control and smuggling violations for his part in a scheme to ship aircraft parts and avionics equipment from the U.S. to Russia, DOJ announced. Haimovich admitted to "deceiving U.S. companies about the true destination of the goods at issue" and attempting to hide the scheme by submitting false information in export documents submitted to the U.S. government.
The Treasury Department this week sanctioned 10 people and six entities in Iran and Russia involved in trading Iranian weapons and drones, along with four vessels delivering those shipments. The State Department also designated various shipping companies and vessels, including Iran Air, which the agency said is being used to move Western-origin goods to Russia.
The European Commission this week updated its Russia-related sanctions frequently asked questions, including guidance on the restrictions that apply to people and companies providing services to Russia. The updated FAQs cover how sanctions apply in the context of aggregate ownership (page 25); firewalls, which stop a sanctioned person from exercising control over a non-sanctioned EU company, allowing that company to continue normal business operations (page 39); and how sanctions apply to services provided as an employee of an EU mother company to a Russian subsidiary (page 349).
The U.S. on Sept. 5 unsealed an indictment against Sam Bhambhani, a North Attleboro, Massachusetts, resident and salesman for an unnamed laser source supplier, for allegedly conspiring to violate U.S. export controls and smuggling goods from the U.S. by sending laser welding machines to Russia. Also named in the indictment was Maxim Teslenko, a Russian citizen, who "acted as a reseller of laser equipment to the Russian government."
The U.K. on Sept. 10 added three entries to its Russian sanctions regime and seven people and entities to its Iran sanctions list, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation announced in a pair of notices.
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The House approved several export control-related bills late Sept. 9, including the Remote Access Security Act, which is designed to close a loophole that has allowed China to use cloud service providers to access advanced U.S. computing chips remotely (see 2409040046).
U.S. computing chip manufacturers need to do more to stem the flow of their export-controlled products to Russia’s defense industrial base, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Sept. 10.
The House passed a bill Sept. 9 that would cut off top Chinese leaders and their family members from the U.S. financial system if China takes military action against Taiwan.
DOJ on Sept. 5 unsealed two indictments against dual Russian-U.S. citizens Dimitri Simes and Anastasia Simes, residents of Huntly, Virginia, for their role in a scheme to violate U.S. sanctions.