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Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Enforcement Michael J. Garcia announced that nearly $1 million of criminal and administrative fines have been imposed against a Houston company, BS&B Process Systems, Inc, and its London, England affiliate for illegally exporting oil field processing equipment to Iran.
The Bureau of Export Administration ("BXA") imposed an $86,000 civil penalty on BS&B Process Systems, Inc. and, a $32,000 civil penalty against the company's London affiliate, Black, Sivalls, & Bryson (UK) Ltd., as part of the global settlement. In addition, BS&B Process Systems, Inc. had its export privileges denied for three years, all of which were suspended. Black, Sivalls, and Bryson (UK) Ltd. had its export privileges denied for three years, two of which were suspended. Both suspensions are conditioned on the companies not committing any violations during the suspension period.
During sentencing with respect to related criminal charges in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma last week, a $414,000 criminal penalty was imposed on BS&B Process Systems, Inc. and a $448,000 criminal penalty was imposed on Black, Sivalls, and Bryson (UK) Ltd.
The global settlement is the result of an investigation conducted by BXA's Dallas Field Office, the Criminal Investigations Division of the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Customs Service, the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Assistant Secretary Garcia commended Assistant United States Attorneys Neal Kirkpatrick and Richard Love, and Department of Justice's Internal Security Section Trial Attorneys Robert Wallace and James Candelmo for their work on this case. Assistant Secretary Garcia also commended Special Agent John Larkin, from BXA's Dallas Field Office, for his exceptional work on the case.
The Department of Commerce, through its Bureau of Export Administration, administers and enforces export controls for reasons of national security, foreign policy, nonproliferation, anti-terrorism, and short supply. Criminal penalties and administrative sanctions can be imposed for violations of the Export Administration Regulations