Author: Elizabeth Hearst

Regulatory Watch News

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  Spanish national charged after huge Manchester Airport cannabis seizure

  National Crime Agency

  May 3, 2024

  A Spanish national has been charged with drug smuggling offences by the National Crime Agency after eight suitcases packed with cannabis were found at Manchester Airport. 51-year-old Fernando Jacobo Mayans Fuster, from Zaragoza in Spain, arrived into the airport on Wednesday 1 May, having flown from Los Angeles in the US, via London Heathrow. He was arrested after Border Force officers located 278 packages in eight separate bags.

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  Leader of Massive Scheme to Traffic in Fraudulent and Counterfeit Cisco Networking Equipment Sentenced to Prison

  US Department of Justice

  May 2, 2024

  A Florida resident and dual citizen of the United States and Turkey was sentenced yesterday to six years and six months in prison for running an enormous operation over many years to traffic in fraudulent and counterfeit Cisco networking equipment. Under the terms of the plea agreement, Onur Aksoy, 40, of Miami, agreed to pay restitution of $100 million to Cisco and amounts to other victims that will be determined by the court at a later date, and to permit destruction of millions of dollars of counterfeit goods seized from his businesses.

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  Treasury Targets Sanctions Evaders Supporting Key Hizballah Financial Advisor

  OFAC

  May 2, 2024

  WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated five individuals for helping U.S.-designated Hizballah money exchanger Hassan Moukalled (Moukalled) and his company, CTEX Exchange, evade sanctions and facilitate illicit activities in support of Hizballah. These individuals, including two co-founders of CTEX Exchange and two of Moukalled’s sons, operate two companies in Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) that are being concurrently designated. Individuals and entities targeted today are being designated pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, which targets terrorist groups, their supporters, and those who aid acts of terrorism.