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Us Justice Department News

05 Sep 2022

Fat Leonard is on the Lam

© zapper / Adobe Stock

A Malaysian businessman at the center of a major U.S. Navy bribery scandal has escaped house arrest ahead of his impending sentencing by cutting off his monitoring anklet, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported on Monday.Leonard Glenn Francis, popularly known as "Fat Leonard," cut off his GPS anklet some time Sunday morning, and when police went to his home they found it empty, the newspaper reported, citing Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Omar Castillo.Prosecutors said that in exchange for contracts Francis plied Navy officers with cash…

25 Aug 2022

Shipping Container Suppliers Abandon $987 Million Deal After US Probe

(Photo: A.P. Moller - Maersk)

Global shipping container suppliers China International Marine Containers and Maersk Container Industry in a joint statement on Thursday said they have abandoned a merger plan, citing significant regulatory challenges.China International Marine Containers (CIMC) in September had agreed to buy the Danish shipping company AP Moeller - Maersk's refrigerated containers maker for $987.3 million.The U.S.

07 Jun 2022

Russian Superyacht in Fiji Leaves for US Amid Legal Wrangling

A Russian-owned superyacht docked in Fiji departed for the United States on Tuesday after a court in the Pacific island nation ordered its removal, saying it was a waste of money to maintain amid legal wrangling over its seizure.The U.S. Justice Department's Taskforce KleptoCapture has focused on seizing yachts and other luxury assets of Russian oligarchs in a bid to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.The 106-meter (350-foot) Amadea arrived in Fiji on April 13 after an 18-day voyage from Mexico. It was seized by Fiji authorities after the country's High Court granted a U.S. warrant last month that linked…

05 May 2022

Fiji Seizes Russian Oligarch Kerimov's $300M Yacht

Authorities in Fiji have seized a $300 million yacht of Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov at the request of the United States, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday, as Washington and its allies press Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.A Fiji court had ruled on Tuesday that the United States can seize a Russian-owned superyacht, weeks after it arrived and was impounded by police. Authorities in various countries have seized luxury vessels and villas owned by Russian billionaires in response to sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a special military operation.Kerimov was sanctioned by the United States in 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia's actions in Syria and Ukraine. He has also been sanctioned by the European Union.The U.S.

04 May 2022

United States Can Seize Russian Superyacht, Fiji Court Rules

Fiji court ruled on Tuesday that the United States can seize a Russian-owned superyacht, 21 days after it arrived and was impounded by police, as the United States and its allies press Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.U.S. authorities assert that the luxury vessel, the Amadea, is ultimately owned by Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov, who has been sanctioned by the United States and the European Union.The U.S. Justice Department's Taskforce KleptoCapture has focused on seizing yachts and other luxury assets to put the finances of Russian oligarchs under strain in a bid to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.

04 Apr 2022

Russian Oligarch Vekselberg's Superyacht Seized in Spain

Spanish police on Monday impounded a superyacht belonging to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg on behalf of U.S. authorities, the first time the United States has seized property belonging to a Russian oligarch since its invasion of Ukraine in February.Valued at more than 90 million euros ($99 million), the 78-metre-long "Tango" (255 ft) was seized in a shipyard on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, the Guardia Civil police and the U.S. Justice Department said in parallel…

02 Dec 2021

Kirby Inland Marine to Pay $15.3M in Damages Over 2014 Oil Spill

 (U.S Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Manda M. Emery)

Houston, Texas-based Kirby Inland Marine agreed to pay $15.3 million in damages and assessment costs to resolve federal and state claims for harm to natural resources resulting from a 2014 oil spill from a Kirby barge in the Houston Ship Channel, the U.S. Justice Department said.In a related enforcement action in 2016, the United States secured a settlement with Kirby for $4.9 million in civil penalties and injunctive relief measures to improve the company's operations to help…

18 Nov 2021

White House Lauds Easing of Supply Chain Clogs, Cites Shipping Competition Concerns

© sheilaf2002 / Adobe Stock

The White House on Wednesday lauded improvements in clogged U.S. supply chains, with more goods moving than ever before, but said more work was needed to ensure fair competition in a global shipping sector dominated by three alliances of ocean carriers.In a new blog, the White House National Economic Council said the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), an independent agency, was already investigating excessive shipping fees, but should consider using other tools, including challenging…

02 Aug 2021

US Says It Seized Tanker Used to Evade North Korea Sanctions

The U.S. Justice Department (DoJ) on Friday announced the seizure of a 2,734-ton tanker it said was owned and operated by a Singaporean national and used to make shipments of petroleum products to North Korea in violation of international sanctions.A DoJ statement said the M/T Courageous was seized by Cambodian authorities in March 2020 in accordance with a U.S. warrant, having been used to transfer oil products to North Korean vessels and to make direct shipments to the North Korean port of Nampo."Criminal charges of conspiracy to evade economic sanctions on the DPRK and money laundering conspiracy are pending against the alleged owner and operator of the Courageous…

04 Mar 2021

Elaine Chao Used DOT Resources for Family Business - Report

Elaine Chao (Photo: Office of President Trump)

The U.S. Justice Department declined to investigate or prosecute then-Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao after the inspector general’s office referred allegations of potential misuse of office for review, a report made public on Wednesday said.The report included allegations that Chao directed staff to research or purchase personal items for her online using her personal credit card or performed other personal errands for her or her father.The report focused largely on Chao’s actions related to her family’s shipping business…

27 Oct 2020

US Issues Fresh Sanctions Targeting Iran's Oil Sector

© Vladimir / Adobe Stock

The United States on Monday imposed fresh Iran-related sanctions targeting the Islamic Republic's oil sector, including the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum, in Washington's latest move to increase pressure on Tehran.The U.S. Treasury Department in a statement said it was slapping sanctions on key actors in Iran's oil sector for supporting the Quds Force, the elite foreign paramilitary and espionage arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."The regime in Iran uses the petroleum sector to fund the destabilizing activities of the IRGC-QF…

01 Sep 2020

Owners of Iranian Fuel Seized by US Assert Rights to Cargoes

The owners of four Iranian fuel cargoes that were confiscated by U.S. authorities last month mounted a challenge to the seizure, asserting their rights to control the cargo, according to a court filing on Tuesday.The U.S. Justice Department last month announced the seizure of 1.116 million barrels of fuel it said was destined for Venezuela. The oil industries of Venezuela and Iran, both OPEC nations, are under U.S. sanctions, and Iran earlier this year irked Washington by sending gasoline cargoes to Venezuela.In the Tuesday filing with the U.S.

14 Aug 2020

US Seized Four Iranian Fuel Cargoes Bound for Venezuela

The United States said on Friday it had confiscated four Iranian fuel shipments that had been bound for Venezuela, disrupting a key supply line for both Tehran and Caracas as they defied U.S. sanctions.U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran should not be sending cargoes to Venezuela and added that the seized shipments were bound for Houston, Texas, a major U.S. oil shipping hub and suggested they may have already arrived."They're going to Houston. And, they're there," Trump told a White House news conference. "We're moving them, and moved, to Houston."The U.S. Justice Department said the seized cargo was now in U.S. custody "with the assistance of foreign partners…

10 Mar 2020

HII Promotes Boudreaux

Chad N. Boudreaux (Photo: HII)

Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced Tuesday that Chad N. Boudreaux has been appointed executive vice president and chief legal officer, effective April 1, 2020. Current Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer Kellye Walker recently announced her decision to pursue another opportunity, and she will depart HII on March 31.Boudreaux is currently the corporate vice president for litigation and chief compliance and privacy officer for HII. As executive vice president and chief legal officer, Boudreaux will report to HII President and CEO Mike Petters.

25 Nov 2019

SHI to Pay $75 Mln to Resolve Bribery Case

© denissimonov / Adobe Stock

Samsung heavy industries Co Ltd has agreed to pay more than $75 million in criminal penalties to resolve a U.S. investigation of a scheme to pay millions of dollars in bribes to officials in Brazil, the U.S. Justice Department said on Friday.Samsung Heavy has admitted to paying about $20 million to a Brazilian intermediary between 2007 and 2013 knowing that parts of it would be paid as bribes to officials in Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras SA for a contract which facilitated the sale of a drill ship by Samsung Heavy…

20 Sep 2019

US Fines HHI $47Mln Over Dirty Engines

US authorities announced that South Korea's top shipbuilding conglomerate Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) will pay a US$47 million fine for illegally importing and selling dirty diesel engines in violation of American environmental rules.US Justice Department and and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said that between 2012 and 2015, the company imported nearly 2,300 diesel-powered heavy construction vehicles with engines that did not meet US emissions standards.“Hyundai put profits above the public’s health and the requirements of the law,” Jeffrey Bossert Clark, head of the department’s environment and natural resources division…

14 May 2019

N.Korea Protests U.S. Ship Seizure

North Korea said on Tuesday the seizure of one of its cargo ships by the United States was an illegal act that violated the spirit of a summit between the two countries' leaders, and demanded the return of the vessel without delay.The North's foreign ministry said in a statement that it rejected U.N. Security Council resolutions against it which the United States cited in impounding the vessel, as a violation of its sovereignty."The United States committed an unlawful and outrageous act of dispossessing our cargo ship," an unnamed ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency."The latest U.S.

09 May 2019

U.S. seizes 'sanction buster' North Korean Ship

The United States has for the first time seized a North Korean cargo ship it accused of illicit coal shipments in violation of U.S. and United Nations sanctions, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Thursday.The ship, known as the "Wise Honest," was first detained by Indonesia in April 2018. Under an unusual U.S. civil forfeiture action, the vessel is now in the possession of the United States and is currently approaching U.S. territorial waters heading toward American Samoa, U.S. Justice Department officials said.The announcement comes after North Korea fired what appeared to be two short-range missiles on Thursday, its second such test in less than a week and an apparent protest by leader Kim Jong Un after U.S.

06 Jul 2018

Sinovel Fined for AMSC Trade Secret Theft

File Image (CREDIT: AdobeStock / © JJAVA)

A U.S. judge ordered Sinovel Wind Group Co Ltd, a Chinese wind turbine maker, to pay a $1.5 million fine after the company was convicted and charged for stealing trade secrets from Massachusetts-based AMSC. U.S. District Judge James Peterson in Madison, Wisconsin, also sentenced Sinovel to one year of probation, during which it must pay the unpaid balance of a $57.5 million settlement it reached with AMSC. The U.S. Justice Department said Sinovel has already paid AMSC, formerly known as American Superconductor Inc…

29 Nov 2017

SBM Offshore to Pay $238 Mln in US Bribery Case

SBM Offshore NV, a Netherlands-based maker of offshore oil drilling equipment, and its U.S. subsidiary, SBM Offshore USA Inc, agreed to settle criminal charges of bribing officials in five countries and pay a $238 million penalty, the U.S. Justice Department said on Wednesday. The companies agreed to settle charges related to schemes lasting more than a decade involving bribery of foreign officials in Brazil, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, Kazakhstan and Iraq, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the Justice Department said in a statement. SBM Offshore USA pleaded guilty on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the statement said.

25 Aug 2017

MST, Reederei Indicted for Falsifying Pollution Records

The U.S. Justice Department announced a federal grand jury in Portland, Maine, returned a nine-count indictment today charging MST Mineralien Schiffarht Spedition Und Transport GmbH (MST) and Reederei MS “Marguerita” GmbH & Co. Geschlossene Investment KG (Reederei) with failing to keep accurate pollution control records and falsifying records. The charges stem from the falsification of records in 2016 and 2017 designed to cover up overboard discharges of oily mixtures and machinery space bilge water from the Liberian-flagged cargo vessel, M/V Marguerita. On at least eight occasions between September 2016 and June 2016, the M/V Marguerita entered United States waters and ports with a false and misleading Oil Record Book available for inspection by the U.S. Coast Guard.

27 Jun 2017

Current and Former WWL Execs Accused of Price Fixing

Photo: WWL

Two former and one current executive of the shipping company Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics AS (WWL) have been indicted on charges of fixing the prices of some international ocean shipping, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday. Former executives Arild Iversen and Anders Boman were indicted in November 2016 along with current executive Kai Kraass, the department said. The indictment was unsealed on Tuesday. Iversen is a former WWL chief executive, Boman was head of the Asian business for WWL and Kraass was Head of Commercial, Region Europe, according to the complaint filed with the U.S.

26 Apr 2017

Life Sentence for USS Ashland Attacker

Suspected pirates skiff burns after being burnt near the amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland in 2010. (U.S. Navy photo/ Harry J. Storms)

A 31-year-old Somali man was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for engaging in piracy and other offenses in connection with an attack on a U.S. Navy ship seven years ago, the U.S. Justice Department said. Mohamed Farah, 31, of Somalia was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison for his role in the attack, the Justice Department said in a statement. Another five Somalis have already been tried and convicted for their roles in the attack and are serving prison terms, the Justice Department said.