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The U.S. Department of Commerce announced today that Bio Check, Inc. (Bio Check), of Burlingame, California, has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $22,500 to settle allegations that the company violated the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) when it exported medical diagnostic kits to Iran without approval from the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and without filing the required Shipper’s Export Declarations.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) alleged that Bio Check shipped the items to Iran through freight forwarders in the United Arab Emirates and Italy. The settlement takes into account a $32,000 fine that OFAC imposed for violations of its regulations involving the same illegal exports. Bio Check voluntarily disclosed these violations to both BIS and OFAC and cooperated throughout the investigation.
BIS administers and enforces export controls for reasons of national security, foreign policy, nonproliferation and short supply. Criminal penalties and administrative sanctions can be imposed for violations of the EAR.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Lisa A. Prager commended BIS’s field office in San Jose, California for their efforts in the investigation of this case.