News & Updates

TOKYO, JAPAN – Today, Commerce and Industry Export Control Principals from the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) convened as a follow-up to the Commerce and Industry Ministerial initiative from the Trilateral Leaders’ Summit at Camp David last August. This meeting is the first in-person meeting of its kind under the trilateral relationship focused on further aligning export controls, enhancing our ability to effectively collaborate on shared priorities. The United States hosted the convening at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.  

Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod of the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security was in Munich last week to participate in the 2024 Munich Security Conference, which brings together leaders from around the world to tackle current and future challenges to our global security. 

Earlier today in federal court in Brooklyn, Kristina Puzyreva pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy for her role in a multimillion-dollar scheme to send components used in unnamed aerial vehicles (UAVs) and guided missile systems and other weapons to sanctioned entities in Russia. The components shipped in violation of export control and sanctions laws were later found in Russian weapons platforms and signals intelligence equipment in Ukraine.

The Bureau of Industry and Security, U.S. Department of Commerce ("BIS"), has notified Cargosave, Inc., of Jamaica, New York ("Cargosave"), of its intention to initiate an administrative proceeding against Cargosave pursuant to Section 766.3 of the Export Administration Regulations (the "Regulations"), through the issuance of a Proposed Charging Letter to Cargosave that alleges that Cargosave committed two violations of the Regulations...

The Department of Justice today completed enforcement of a final order for forfeiture of a U.S.-manufactured Boeing 747 cargo plane, previously owned by Mahan Air, a sanctioned Iranian airline affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp-Qods Force (IRGC-QF), a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).

PHOENIX, AZ – Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement Matthew S. Axelrod traveled to Phoenix, Arizona from February 7-8 to mark the one-year anniversary since the Disruptive Technology Strike Force was launched.  The Disruptive Technology Strike Force is an interagency law enforcement effort aimed at preventing critical technologies from being acquired by authoritarian regimes and hostile nation-states Assistant Secretary Axelrod co-leads the Strike Force with Assistant Attorney General (AAG) Matthew G.

ST. LOUIS – A Defense Department contractor from St. Charles County, Missouri on Wednesday admitted illegally obtaining parts for the military overseas, undercutting domestic suppliers.

Cases Mark One-Year Since Launch of Disruptive Technology Strike Force

In two separate cases out of U.S. Attorneys’ Offices on opposite coasts, several individuals are charged – one of whom was arrested yesterday – in connection with sophisticated schemes to transfer sensitive technology, goods, and information for the benefit of hostile foreign adversaries, in violation of U.S. law.

‘Queen’ of the Gang Pleaded Guilty on Eve of Trial, Both Face up to Life in Prison

Joly Germine, 31, of Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, the self-described “King” of a notoriously violent Haitian gang known as 400 Mawozo, pleaded guilty yesterday to his role in a gunrunning conspiracy that smuggled firearms to Haiti in violation of U.S. export laws, and the laundering of ransoms paid for U.S. hostages to the gang in 2021.

          WASHINGTON – Saber Fakih, 48, of the United Kingdom, was sentenced yesterday to 18 months in prison for violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations.