Multinational commodity trading and mining company Glencore International pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in New York May 24 to violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced. Glencore Ltd. also pleaded guilty in the District of Connecticut to conspiring to manipulate commodity prices. Collectively, Glencore International and Glencore agreed to pay over $1.1 billion to settle the investigations into bribery and commodity price manipulation.
Hamzeh Jamal Alasfar and Tayseer Issam Alkhayyat, two business owners in Charlotte, North Carolina, were indicted for allegedly selling fraudulently obtained Apple iPhones and other electronic devices to buyers in the U.S. and across the globe, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina announced. The charges, which include conspiracy to transport stolen and fraudulently obtained goods in interstate commerce and two counts of interstate and foreign transportation of stolen property, carry maximum sentences of five and 10 years in prison, respectively. All charges carry a maximum $250,000 fine per count as well.
Luis Enrique Martinelli Linares and Ricardo Enrique Martinelli Linares, brothers who are both dual citizens of Panama and Italy, were sentenced to 36 months in prison each for laundering $28 million in a bribery and money laundering scheme with Brazilian construction conglomerate Oderbrecht S.A., DOJ announced. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York also ordered the brothers to forfeit more than $18.8 million and pay a $250,000 fine along with serving two years of supervised release.
Technology executive Obaidullah Syed, of Northbrook, Illinois, was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for illegally exporting computer equipment to a nuclear research agency in Pakistan, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced May 18. Syed pleaded guilty in 2021 to conspiring to ship the goods without a license and to submit false export information. Before sentencing, Syed forfeited $247,000 of cash derived from the illegal sales.
Chenyan Wu and Lianchun Chen, a married couple in San Diego, pleaded guilty May 19 to gathering confidential mRNA research from the pharmaceutical company where both worked, part of their effort to aid the husband's competing laboratory research in China, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California announced May 19.
The Federal Trade Commission said that apparel company Lions Not Sheep Products and Sean Whalen, its owner, falsely label their products as Made in USA, filing a complaint against the company and its owner. In the filing, FTC said that Lions Not Sheep and Whalen actually imported their clothing and accessories from China and other countries. The commission would have the company stop making the false claims, label the proper country of origin of the products and pay a $211,335 penalty to the commission.
Wynn Resorts' former CEO Stephen Wynn is the subject of a DOJ enforcement action seeking to compel Wynn to register as an agent of China under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. In a complaint filed May 17 at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the U.S. said Wynn was previously asked to register as an agent for his work advocating on behalf of the Chinese government but that he failed to do so.
Nathan Horton, a Georgia resident, was sentenced to one year and a day in prison for illegally trapping and exporting thousands of freshwater turtles in Georgia, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced. Horton's actions were found to be in violation of the Lacey Act -- the statute that makes it illegal to knowingly export wildlife that has been illegally collected in violation of state law. From 2015 to 2017, Horton captured thousands of freshwater turtles via turtle nets -- an illegal article under Georgia state law -- shipping the turtles from Georgia to California. The ultimate destination of the turtles was Asia, and the operation netted Horton over $150,000, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. In addition to the yearlong sentence, Horton will serve three years of supervised release and will pay a $10,000 fine. The defendant also will have to complete 200 hours of community service and is banned from trapping turtles and other wildlife for the entire term of his supervised release.
DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission settled a case against Lithionics Battery and its founder and owner, Steven Tartaglia, accusing them of falsely claiming that their battery and battery module products were made in the U.S., DOJ announced May 4. Lithionics and Tartaglia agreed to pay $105,319.56 in civil penalties (U.S. v. Lithionics Battery, M.D. Fla. #8:22-00868).
Michael Monegro, a Philippines national, pleaded guilty to a federal charge over his repeated stabbing of a fellow crew member on a container ship heading from Shanghai to Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced May 2. Monegro was charged with committing an act of violence against a person on a ship that likely endangered the safe navigation of the ship. He could be sentenced to a maximum sentence of life in prison.