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☆ Justice Department files criminal charges in cases of American tech stolen for Russia, China and Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The Justice Department announced on Tuesday five criminal cases against people accused of stealing or illegally diverting American technology and materials for the Russian, Chinese and Iranian governments. The man, Xiangjiang Qiao, is at large in China, according to the Justice Department. “These charges demonstrate the Justice Department’s commitment to preventing sensitive technology from falling into the hands of foreign adversaries, including Russia, China, and Iran,” said Matthew Olsen of the Justice Department’s national security division. In New York, a Greek national is charged with allegedly acquiring more than 10 different types of sensitive technologies on behalf of the Russian government. The man, Dr. Nikolaos “Nikos” Bogonikolos, was arrested in Paris last week and the US will move for his extradition, the Justice Department said.

[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.

Companies Binance Holdings Ltd FollowMay 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department is investigating whether Binance Holdings was illegally used to let Russians skirt U.S. sanctions and move money through the cryptocurrency exchange, Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Regulators globally have long called for tighter controls on crypto exchanges including Binance, the world's largest, to prevent illegal activities - from money laundering to the financing of terrorism. The recent seizures by Israel's NBCTF also highlight how governments are targeting crypto companies in their efforts to prevent illegal activity. Binance and the DoJ did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. Reporting by Jose Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju SamuelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. and China wage war beneath the waves – over internet cables
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +28 min

Three of China’s state-owned carriers – China Telecommunications Corporation (China Telecom), China Mobile Limited and China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd (China Unicom) – had committed funding as members of the consortium, which also included U.S.-based Microsoft Corp and French telecom firm Orange SA, according to six people involved in the deal. China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom and Orange did not respond to requests for comment. China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom were resolutely behind HMN Tech, which had come in with a bid of around $500 million. China Telecom and China Mobile threatened to walk off the project, taking tens of millions of dollars of investment with them. Among them is China Telecom, which had previously won authorization to provide services in the United States.

☆ Justice Department Hiring Dozens of New Prosecutors to Enforce Russian Sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Dylan Tokar | Ian Talley | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

The new prosecutors will work with corporations to investigate sanctions and export control evasion, and also bring criminal charges against companies when they commit violations, he said. Some of the additional prosecutors are new hires, while some are being reallocated from different sections, according to officials. The U.A.E.’s enforcement of sanctions differs between the emirates, officials say, as the separate governments treat the sanctions with varying degrees of compliance. For their part, Justice Department officials have pointed to a growing nexus between their work on corporate crime and national security. In addition to hiring more prosecutors, Mr. Olsen said the counterintelligence section would also hire a lawyer to advise on investigations involving corporations.

☆ DOJ launches new effort to target corporate sanctions evasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco announced a new effort by the Justice Department on Thursday to target corporate sanctions evasion and other financial crimes that implicate national security. “To address the increasing intersection of corporate crime and national security, the Department is today announcing significant restructuring and resource commitments within the National Security Division,” Monaco at the American Bar Association National Institute on White Collar Crime Thursday. “Companies are on the front lines of today’s geopolitical and national security challenges,” she said. “Increasingly, corporate criminal investigations carry profound national security implications.”As part of that effort, Monaco said, the Justice Department’s National Security Division will hire more than 25 new prosecutors to investigate “sanctions evasion, export control violations, and similar economic crimes.” Monaco said. The Justice Department has brought several sanctions violations cases in the past year.

☆ U.S. Commerce Dept. names financial sector, government experts to chips team
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Commerce Department said Friday it is naming more than a dozen members to a team overseeing $52.7 billion in government funding to boost semiconductor manufacturing and research. The new team members include officials with experience managing large federal programs, experts from the semiconductor industry, and executives with financial sector experience, the department said. The department said Todd Fisher - a Commerce official who previously worked for nearly 25 years at KKR & Co. Inc - will serve as chief investment officer. The department plans to release its first Notice of Funding Opportunity this month, a key step to beginning the process of making funding awards. In September, Commerce Department chief economist Aaron "Ronnie" Chatterji was named White House Coordinator for CHIPS Implementation while former Treasury official Michael Schmidt was named Commerce Department CHIPS Program Office director.

☆ The Paradox of Prosecuting Domestic Terrorism
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( James Verini | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +52 min

The preventive approach to domestic terrorism goes back even further than the 1990s and it begins with the basic police work and surveillance of the joint terrorism task forces. In fact, there is no section of the U.S. Criminal Code that criminalizes domestic terrorism as such. The absence of clear law around domestic terrorism, and the imperatives of prevention, mean that investigators and prosecutors who work domestic terrorism cases must focus on more common charges: weapons violations, illegal drug possession, burglary, aiding and abetting and so forth. But this was not enough to overrule the fear of domestic terrorism that was gripping the nation and that hung in the courtroom. It reflected the legal paradoxes of the case and domestic terrorism law in general or, maybe more accurately, the absence of it.

☆ 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.

☆ F.B.I. asking about videos and racist website in connection with Colorado shooting
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Jo Yurcaba | Jo Yurcaba Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The former neighbor, Xavier Kraus, said an FBI agent asked him about the two websites at an FBI field office in Colorado Springs last Thursday afternoon after an agent called him earlier that day. The website allegedly created by Aldrich is a forum-type “free speech” site where people have anonymously posted racist and antisemitic memes, language and videos. The videos appear to have gone up from 9:28 p.m. to 11:43 p.m. local time on the night of the shooting. Kraus said the agents asked whether Aldrich posted the “Wrong Targets” video on the homepage. After listening to the voice in the videos, Kraus said it “sounds very, very similar” to Aldrich, but he could not confirm this with certainty.

☆ After being falsely accused of spying for China, Sherry Chen wins significant settlement
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Kimmy Yam | Kimmy Yam Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

An Asian American scientist who was wrongfully accused of spying for China is speaking out after reaching a lucrative settlement with the U.S. government last week. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, which backed Chen, the hydrologist will receive $550,000 from the Commerce Department and an annuity over 10 years valued at $1.25 million. Neither the Commerce Department nor the DOJ commented further on Chen’s ordeal. However, the Commerce Department appealed the decision and placed her on administrative leave. As part of the settlement, Chen is retiring from the NWS, her lawyers said.

The sources say Justice Department officials are looking carefully at a cross section of past cases involving the mishandling of classified material. Though his comments were about the separate Jan. 6 investigation, Justice Department officials said they apply broadly. Experts say the public evidence in the Mar-a-Lago case seems unambiguous. Less clear is whether there are aggravating factors — such as whether the Justice Department can prove Trump obstructed justice by failing to turn over documents despite a grand jury subpoena. Martin’s lawyers said he was a hoarder, and prosecutors concluded that he had not given classified information to anyone.

☆ 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.

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