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Miami Resident Pleads Guilty to Violating U.S. Sanctions and Money Laundering in $139 Million Metal Products Scheme

Money LaunderingMiami Resident Pleads Guilty to Violating U.S. Sanctions and Money Laundering in $139 Million Metal Products Scheme

Sergey Karpushkin, a resident of Miami and a citizen of Belarus, has pleaded guilty to engaging in a scheme to violate U.S. sanctions and commit money laundering by conducting transactions for the purchase and acquisition of metal products valued at over $139 million from companies owned by Sergey Kurchenko, a sanctioned oligarch. Kurchenko was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in 2015 for his role in misappropriating Ukrainian state assets or economically significant entities.

Between July 2017 and August 2020, Karpushkin conspired with others to purchase and receive over $139 million in metal products from two companies owned and controlled by Kurchenko. Karpushkin and his business associates, through the Florida-based company Metalhouse LLC, entered into contracts and purchase orders for pig iron, steel billets, and wire rods from these companies. They received tens of thousands of tons of metal products and agreed to share profits from these unlawful transactions. Karpushkin and his business associates intentionally concealed from U.S. banks and government officials the ultimate source and origin of the goods they sought to acquire, knowing that they did not have the necessary authorization or license from OFAC to transact with Kurchenko and his companies.

Karpushkin pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and to commit international promotional money laundering. He also agreed to forfeit $4,723,625 in proceeds obtained as a result of the conspiracy.

An indictment charging alleged co-conspirator and Metalhouse president John Can Unsalan, aka Hurrem Can Unsalan, with various counts related to conspiring to violate and evade U.S. sanctions, as well as international money laundering, was unsealed on April 17, and Unsalan has been detained pending further court proceedings.

The FBI Tampa Field Office and the International Corruption Unit of the FBI Washington Field Office investigated the case, with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the FBI Miami Field Office.

The investigation was coordinated through the Justice Department’s Task Force KleptoCapture, an interagency law enforcement task force dedicated to enforcing sanctions, export controls, and economic countermeasures imposed in response to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.

Sergey Karpushkin faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Sentencing will be determined by a federal district court judge after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

By FCCT Editorial Team

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are independent views solely of the author(s) expressed in their private capacity.

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