By: Danielle McClellan
BIS recently posted to its website an Order denying Micei International’s export privileges for 5 years and slapping them with a $126, 000 civil penalty. Micei is a retailer of guns, police equipment and other miscellaneous items in Skopje, Macedonia. The Charging Letter which has been removed from the BIS site alleges that Micei committed 14 violations when it allowed Yuri Malinkovski to negotiate on behalf of the company the purchase of shirts and boots for export from the US to Micei. Malinkovski’s export privileges were denied in 2000 after he was convicted of exporting stun guns to Macedonia without first applying for a license from BIS.
The Order explains that Micei “knowingly participated in seven export transactions using individuals subject to a Denial Order as an employee or agent to negotiate for and purchase items in the US for export from the US to Micei in Macedonia.”
The administrative law judge that made the decision to deny the Micei’s export privileges made the decision on the claim that the company knowingly violated the EAR even though they claimed they had no idea Malinkovski was a denied party. The judge suggested that because the denial order had been published in the Federal Register the denial order of Malinkovski’s export privileges could be “imputed” to Micei. It seems like a long stretch to expect a company in Macedonia to read the Federal Register on a daily basis…but again we are talking about the EAR. BIS expresses that in its investigation that a Micei officer knew that Malinkowski was subject to a denial order which is a much better claim for violating 764.2(e) than imputed knowledge.
The order explains that, “BIS is continuing to evaluate and investigate” while “Micei has recently hired new US-based counsel and there are some indications that Micei may be prepared to more meaningfully engage on the issues.”
BIS Orders: