Where Industry and Security Intersect
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WASHINGTON -- The Commerce Department announced today that it has reached a settlement with I.G.G. Corporation, King of Prussia, Pa., a wholly-owned subsidiary of IGG Component Technology, Ltd., Portsmouth, England, in a case involving violations of the Commerce Department regulation that implements the Enhanced Proliferation Control Initiative. EPCI was established in 1991 to prevent any exports of products to end-users which are known or believed to be involved with the development of weapons of mass destruction.
The civil settlement announced today resolves allegations that on 40 separate occasions I.G.G. exported U.S.-origin electronic equipment valued in excess of $461,000 from the United States to the United Kingdom, knowing that the goods were intended for end-use by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) without obtaining the required export licenses.
In May 1992 the U.S. Department of State imposed trade sanctions against ISRO, based on its missile proliferation activities. In part, these sanctions prohibited ISRO from receiving U.S. exports for which a validated export license or reexport authorization was required for a two year period. On September 3, 1992 BXA issued an "Is Informed Letter" to I.G.G. under the authority of EPCI advising that an individual export license or reexport authorization was required for all exports to ISRO.
I.G.G. settled with the Commerce Department's Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) and will pay a $400,000 administrative penalty. I.G.G. was also denied export privileges for a seven-year period. The denial period was suspended for seven years, and will thereafter be waived if the company does not violate U.S. export control laws during the period of suspension.
As part of the global settlement, I.G.G. also pleaded guilty today to a one-count criminal information charging it with knowingly exporting electronic components from the United States to ISRO without the required export licenses, in violation of the Export Administration Act. United States District Court Judge, the Honorable Clarence C. Newcomer, in Philadelphia, PA. assessed I.G.G. a $50,000 criminal fine, a special assessment of $200 and placed the company on probation for five years.
The conviction of I.G.G. and both the criminal and administrative fines and penalties imposed against the firm were the result of a three-year joint investigation by BXA's New York Office of Export Enforcement, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the United States Customs Service, Philadelphia, PA.
In April of 2002 the Bureau of Export Administration (BXA) changed its name to the Bureau of Industry and Security(BIS). For historical purposes we have not changed the references to BXA in the legacy documents found in the Archived Press and Public Information.