DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ US Charges Chinese Nationals With Smuggling US-Made Electronics to Iran
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities have charged four Chinese nationals with crimes related to the smuggling of U.S.-made electronic components, including some with possible military use, to Iran, the Justice Department said on Wednesday. The Chinese nationals are accused of moving U.S. export-controlled items through China and Hong Kong to sanctioned entities affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and its defense ministry, the department said in a statement. The alleged scheme resulted in the export of a "vast amount" of dual-use U.S.-origin commodities with military capabilities from the United States to Iran, the Justice Department said. "Such efforts to unlawfully obtain U.S. technology directly threaten our national security, and we will use every tool at our disposal to sever the illicit supply chains that fuel the Iranian regime's malign activity," Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department's national security division said in the statement. The U.S. has issued arrest warrants for the accused, who all remain fugitives, according to the statement.

Persons: Matthew Olsen, Ismail Shakil, Rami Ayyub, Bill Berkrot Organizations: WASHINGTON, Justice, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Justice Department, Justice Department's Locations: U.S, Iran, China, Hong Kong, United States

☆ Three charged with sending Russia over $7 million in electronics to aid war on Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Three people were arrested in New York City on Tuesday on charges of illegally smuggling millions of dollars' worth of electronics to Russia in order to aid the country's invasion of Ukraine. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn accused Nikolay Goltsev, Salimdzhon Nasriddinov and Kristina Puzyreva of evading sanctions in order to send Russia equipment used in their precision-guided missile systems. The defendants allegedly dispatched hundreds of shipments of restricted items, worth nearly $7.2 million, to Russia over the course of a year. The complaint alleges that the defendants used two corporate entities to source and purchase dual-use electronics from U.S. manufacturers and distributors, and then secretly export them to Russia. Some of the same types of components were found in Russian weapons platforms and signals intelligence equipment that were seized in Ukraine, prosecutors alleged.

Persons: Nikolay Goltsev, Salimdzhon Nasriddinov, Kristina Puzyreva, Nick Stevens, Matthew Olsen Organizations: Attorney, Eastern, of, Prosecutors, United Arab, Justice Department's National Security Division Locations: Brooklyn, New York City, Russia, Ukraine, U.S, of New York, Tajikistan, Goltsev, Montreal, Manhattan, Russian, Turkey, Hong Kong, India, China, United Arab Emirates, Vitebsk

To boost his profile, Zuberi also donated to, or hired, several Washington advocacy groups, lobbying shops and public relations firms. Those officials included Olson, former NATO supreme commander Gen. Wesley Clark and former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement John Sandweg. The trio lobbied U.S. officials after returning from their Doha meeting with Qatari officials, the FBI said. He added that one of his greatest regrets was recruiting Allen into the effort because of the subsequent negative publicity. Allen has denied any wrongdoing but stepped down as president of the Brookings Institution, a prestigious Washington think tank, amid the FBI investigation.

Persons: —, Richard G, Olson, Obama, Imaad Zuberi, Judge G, Michael Harvey, Harvey, Prosecutors, Evan Turgeon, Turgeon, Zuberi, Harvey's, “, Joe Biden, Zubari, Wesley Clark, John Sandweg, John Allen, Allen, strategize, ___ Mustian Organizations: WASHINGTON, U.S, State, Prosecutors, FBI, Justice Department's, Press, NATO, . Immigration, Allen, Brookings Institution Locations: Persian, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Qatar, Zuberi, Washington, Doha, U.S, New York

☆ Ex-FBI counterintelligence official pleads guilty to conspiracy charge for helping Russian oligarch
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

McGonigal is expected to change his plea to guilty after initially pleading not guilty. A former high-ranking FBI counterintelligence official pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to violate sanctions on Russia by going to work, after he retired, for an oligarch he once investigated. McGonigal told the judge he accepted over $17,000 to help Deripaska collect derogatory information about another Russian oligarch who was a business competitor. McGonigal pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiring to launder money and violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. He supervised investigations of Russian oligarchs, including Deripaska.

Persons: Charles McGonigal, Oleg Deripaska, McGonigal, Deripaska, Rebecca Dell, Jennifer H, Rearden, Vladimir Putin, Matthew G, Olsen Organizations: FBI, Manhattan Federal Court, Emergency Economic, U.S, District of Columbia, Justice Department's National Security Division Locations: New York City, McGonigal, Russia, Crimea, New York, Washington ,, Albanian, Cypress, New Jersey, United States, Russian

☆ Tech investors face 'new era' of China restrictions after Biden order limits funding in A.I., chips
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-10 | by ( Rohan Goswami | In Rohangoswamicnbc | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The Biden administration's executive order restricting U.S. private equity and venture capital investments in Chinese technology finally landed on Wednesday. For U.S. tech investors who'd already grown wary of the budding cross-Pacific rivalry, the ruling is the clearest signal yet that the world's second-biggest economy is off limits. Biden is specifically targeting investments in technologies like semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence on concern that China's advancements in those areas run counter to U.S. national security interests. U.S. investors have been steadily retreating from China due to a combination of a weakening economy and the fraught geopolitical environment. "Most investors want to avoid being seen as acting against U.S. national security interests."

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, We've, Elena McGovern, Neil Shen helming, Eric Reiner, Adam Hickey, Mayer Brown, Steve Sarracino, that's, Activant, There's Organizations: Biden, Capstone, Chinese Communist Party, Sequoia Capital, Sequoia, Vine Ventures, Justice Department's, who's, U.S, Activant, Investors Locations: Belen , New Mexico, U.S, China, Sequoia China, Israel, Latin America, Germany, South Africa, The U.S, ByteDance

☆ Pence will not be charged in DOJ probe of classified documents found at his home
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

No charges will be filed against former Vice President Mike Pence in the Department of Justice investigation of classified documents found at his Indiana home. In January, Pence's lawyer said a "small number" of classified documents had been found at his home in Carmel, Indiana. Less than a month later, the FBI conducted a five-hour search of Pence's residence and found an additional classified document. Trump, meanwhile, faces a federal criminal investigation into the hundreds of classified documents that have been removed from Mar-a-Lago since he left the White House. A DOJ special counsel is leading the investigation into those documents, as well as into the possible obstruction of its probe.

Persons: Mike Pence, Richard Nixon, Pence, Donald Trump, Pence's, Joe Biden's, Trump Organizations: US, Nixon National Energy Conference, Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum, Department of Justice, Indiana, NBC News, DOJ, CNBC, Republican, FBI, White Locations: Yorba Linda , California, Carmel , Indiana, Mar, Beach , Florida

[1/3] An American flag waves outside the U.S. Department of Justice Building in Washington, U.S., December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Al Drago/File PhotoWASHINGTON, May 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday it has charged a former Apple Inc (AAPL.O) engineer with attempting to steal the firm's technology related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars, and then fleeing to China. Two of the cases involved what Justice Department officials called procurement networks created to help Russia's military and intelligence services obtain sensitive technology. The former Apple engineer, identified as 35-year-old Weibao Wang, formerly resided in Mountain View, California, and was hired by Apple in 2016, according to an April indictment unsealed on Tuesday. After his last day at Apple, the company discovered that he had accessed large amounts of proprietary data in the days before his departure, the Justice Department said.

☆ New York man sentenced to 2 years for conspiring to steal GE secrets for China
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A New York man was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison for conspiring to steal General Electric 's trade secrets to benefit China, the U.S. Justice Department said. Zheng was employed at GE Power in Schenectady, New York, as an engineer specializing in turbine sealing technology. He worked at GE from 2008 until the summer of 2018, the Justice Department said. The United States had accused the former GE engineer and another Chinese businessman named Zhaoxi Zhang in 2019 of stealing secrets and spying on GE to aid China. A U.S. federal court in Cincinnati sentenced a Chinese national in November to 20 years in prison after he was convicted of plotting to steal trade secrets from several U.S. aviation and aerospace companies.

☆ A judge just tossed out the Justice Department's bid to force Trump donor and casino mogul Steve Wynn to register as a foreign agent
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In a 20-page opinion, Judge James Boasberg sided with Wynn's argument that the Justice Department lacked the power to force the disclosure of his alleged stint as a foreign agent of China. It was not immediately clear if the Justice Department would appeal. A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a prepared statement, Wynn's lawyers Reid Weingarten and Robert Luskin said they were "delighted" by the dismissal of a Justice Department lawsuit they described as "ill-conceived." The Justice Department said Wynn agreed in 2017 to lobby on behalf of China in exchange for favorable treatment of his casino business in Macau.

☆ Veterans group presses state and local prosecutors to go after far-right Patriot Front
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Ryan J. Reilly | Ryan J. Reilly Is A Justice Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

"We as veterans are tired of watching fascists run around, hurt people, and not be brought to justice. In July, group members marched in Boston, where no arrests were made. That same month, in Philadelphia, police detained but did not arrest members of the group after members of the public disrupted their march. Members of the Patriot Front attend the 49th annual March for Life rally Jan. 21, 2022, in Washington. He said he's hopeful his military and advocacy background will help prompt some prosecutorial movement against Patriot Front members.

☆ A Trump advisor's trial could shed light on 'espionage lite' and foreign influence around the former president
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

But in a court filing, federal prosecutors said Barrack was not referencing Trump's campaign or the United States. Indeed, Barrack is only the latest Trump ally to face charges in connection with an alleged foreign influence campaign. In court papers, federal prosecutors alleged that Barrack agreed in the spring of 2016 to develop a backchannel between the Emiratis and Trump campaign. The prosecution of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort kicked off a new era of foreign influence enforcement. Through his lawyers, Barrack has also argued that his contacts with Emiratis were no secret to the Trump campaign and the former president's administration.

Search resuls for: "Justice Department's National Security Division"

11 mentions found