WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Department of Justice announced March 7 that ZTE Corporation has agreed to pay a $430,388,798 penalty to the United States for allegedly conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and send U.S.-origin items to Iran.
“ZTE Corporation not only violated export controls that keep sensitive American technology out of the hands of hostile regimes like Iran’s – they lied to federal investigators and even deceived their own counsel and internal investigators about their illegal acts,” U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said.
ZTE allegedly obtained U.S.-origin items and shipped them to customers based in Iran for a period of nearly six years. Between 2010 and 2016, ZTE allegedly shipped roughly $32 million worth of goods to Iran without proper export licenses. According to the department, the company did so despite knowing that it was illegal. ZTE purportedly also lied to federal investigators during the case.
“ZTE Corporation not only violated our export control laws but, once caught, shockingly, resumed illegal shipments to Iran during the course of our investigation,” said U.S. attorney John R. Parker. “ZTE Corporation then went to great lengths to devise elaborate, corporate-wide schemes to hide its illegal conduct, including lying to its own lawyers.”