Recently the former CEO of Stargate Apparel, Inc. and Rivstar Apparel, Inc., ran afoul of CBP for Customs fraud due to the under-valuation of apparel imported into the United States from China. A former employee turned whistleblower filed a ‘qui tami’ whistleblower complaint under the False Claims Act.
On August 9, 2021, Keysight Technologies agreed to a settlement with DDTC on the allegations of committing 24 export violations of the ITAR for unauthorized exports of technical data and software to multiple countries that would have required licenses. There is a lot to be learned from the Keysight settlement.
Recently there have been an increased number of enforcement cases from BIS, OFAC, and DDTC hitting the compliance newsletter circuit and we thought it worthwhile to outline the issues for our readership and note some key takeaways from the agency’s actions.
Recently, Yi-Chi Shih was sentenced to more than five years in prison for scheming to illegally export integrated circuits with a military end-use to China. He was also ordered to pay some hefty fines. Unfortunately, even the best companies can fall victim to frauds and scams, but there are things that you can do to help prevent this.
Deemed exports can present a challenging compliance environment for companies as they straddle export control regulations as well as employment and anti-discrimination law. Companies should involve their Human Resources group as well as Trade Compliance to ensure that they are effectively and compliantly navigating both export compliance regulations and employment law.
Last month, BIS amended the EAR to reflect the removal of the UAE from the list of countries participating in the Arab League Boycott of Israel. With this amendment, it’s a good time to review what the EAR says about the anti-boycott requirements and what your company needs to do to comply.
Last month, German software behemoth SAP SE (“SAP”) agreed to pay more than $8 million to settle “thousands of export violations spanning six years” with three different U.S. Government agencies. Here are two key learnings that have broad applications for many organizations in the United States and abroad.
FLIR Systems, Inc., agreed to a settlement with the Department of Commerce. The settlement alleges FLIR made inaccurate or incomplete representations, statements, or certifications to BIS and other U.S. Government agencies regarding a certain anti-tamper mechanism while seeking an official determination from the Department of Commerce on a newly developed product.
On April 27, 2021, the Directorate of Defense Trade Control (DDTC) released the contents of the latest Consent Agreement imposed on Honeywell International, Inc., who agreed to the settlement of the civil penalty of $13M for thirty-four violations of the ITAR specific to the unauthorized export or retransfer of technical data related to USML Categories VIII(i), XI(d) and XIX(g).
Fans of the movie “Office Space” are familiar with the dreaded TPS Report. Recently, the U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) finalized its plans to reduce reporting requirements for certain encryption items.