WASHINGTON
– A federal judge has ordered the forfeiture of $148,500 in blocked funds
associated with a Taiwan-based company that allegedly laundered United States
dollars in business dealings with North Korean and Syrian entities, announced
U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and Jeffrey S. Sallet, Special Agent-in-Charge of
the FBI’s Chicago Division.
The
Honorable Richard J. Leon granted the government’s motion for summary judgment
in a civil forfeiture case targeting funds held in the name of Trans Multi
Mechanics Company Limited (Trans Multi). The complaint alleged that Trans Multi
and its owner, Tsai Hsien-Tsai, also known as Alex Tsai, laundered United
States dollars to further his exportation of goods for the benefit of North
Korean and Syrian entities involved in the respective regimes’ weapons
programs. The complaint sought to forfeit funds laundered by Tsai.
“The Court
found that these blocked funds were the product of Tsai’s attempts to sell
tools to a Syrian company using U.S. Dollars and a series of front companies,”
said U.S. Attorney Liu. “Sanctions laws are critical to our national security and
foreign policy interests, and this case demonstrates that we will seek
significant remedies against those companies that violate them.”
"Attempts by individuals such as Tsai to circumvent economic
sanctions through money laundering undermine foreign policy established to keep
the United States and its citizens safe,” said Special Agent in Charge Sallet.
“This judgment underscores the FBI’s commitment to national security and serves
as a reminder that the FBI will work tirelessly to bring offenders to
justice."
The
complaint was filed in June 2016, in the U.S. District Court for the District
of Columbia. According to the complaint, Tsai frequently transacted with
companies in North Korea and Syria which assisted with each regime’s respective
weapons programs. On Jan. 16, 2009, the U.S. Department of Treasury Office of
Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) designated Tsai, his wife, and two companies he
controlled. The designation noted that Tsai used these companies to transact
with North Korean proliferators of weapons of mass destruction.
Between
April and June of 2012, OFAC blocked $148,500 in the process of being
transferred from a bank account in Hong Kong controlled by Tsai to a Taiwanese
bank account in the name of his daughter as it traveled through the United
States correspondent banking system.
Tsai was
arrested in Estonia in May 2013 and subsequently extradited to the United
States. He pled guilty in October 2014,
in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, to one count
of conspiracy to defraud the United States. As part of his plea agreement, Tsai
admitted that he had used Trans Multi, among other companies, to continue his
exporting business notwithstanding the OFAC designation against him. He also admitted that he exported machinery
and tools relating to weapons of mass destruction, and that these goods were
produced in the United States and purchased with U.S. Dollars. After serving a
two-year prison sentence, Tsai was deported to Taiwan, where he remains today.
In his
ruling, which was issued on March 29, 2019, Judge Leon agreed that there was no
genuine dispute of material fact with respect to the government’s complaint,
and that the Court could “easily
conclude” that the funds involved in this suit stemmed from Tsai’s attempts to
evade sanctions. The United States is
thus entitled to the funds.
The FBI’s
Chicago Division is investigating the case. Assistant U.S Attorneys Zia M.
Faruqui, Arvind Lal, and Brian Hudak are prosecuting the case, with assistance
from Legal Assistant Jessica McCormick and former Paralegal Specialist Toni
Anne Donato, and special assistance from Joshua Stanton, who served as a
consultant.
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