Overland Park company fined $13,200 for export to Iran

iranmp3 · 09-02-08, 07:59

Overland Park company fined $13,200 for export to Iran
By DAN MARGOLIES
The Kansas City Star

An Overland Park maker of navigation and landing aids has been fined for selling an aircraft landing system to Iran and falsely asserting that it was destined for Italy.

Selex Sistemi Integrati Inc. has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $13,200 to settle the matter with the federal Bureau of Industry and Security, a subagency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The company was cited for violating two regulations. One bars the export of items without a license, and the other prohibits false statements regarding the country of ultimate destination on a shipper�s export declaration.

Selex�s chief executive, Mike Warner, declined to discuss the circumstances of the sale to Iran. Speaking from Madrid, where he was traveling on a business trip, Warner on Friday said that the company �admitted no guilt whatsoever.�

�There was a full and complete investigation of this matter extending over several years,� he said. �There was a small and obligatory fine we were required to pay to settle the matter. That�s all I�m prepared to say.�

The case dates to November 2002, when the government contends Selex transshipped an instrument landing system from the United States to Italy. The landing system was then transshipped to Iran.

Selex, which is at the intersection of West 89th Street and Nieman Road, had faced fines of up to $250,000 for each of the violations and the denial of its export privileges.

Robert Clifton Burns, an international business lawyer with Powell Goldstein in Washington, D.C., speculated on his ExportLaw blog Friday that the reason the fine may have been so low is that instrument landing systems are a key component of aviation safety.

U.S. sanctions against Iran, he wrote, �have been severely criticized for their detrimental impact on aviation safety and have been argued to have played a role in a recent civilian air disaster in Iran.�

Burns also noted that only rarely does the Bureau of Industry and Security impose fines in the six- or seven-figure range, reserving such penalties �for the most egregious cases.�

Selex is a subsidiary of Selex Sistemi Integrati SpA of Italy, which in turn is part of Finmeccanica of Italy, a major European defense contractor. It was formerly known as Alenia Marconi, which acquired Airport Systems International Inc. from Elecsys Corp. of Overland Park in late 2001.

In September 2003, when it was still Alenia Marconi, the FBI and other investigators searched the plant, which designs and manufactures ground-based radio navigation and landing aids. At the time, investigators declined to comment on their investigation. The company�s then chief executive, James Freney, acknowledged the search and said that Alenia Marconi was cooperating with authorities.

Selex is not the first area company to run afoul of U.S. export regulations. In 2003, Bushnell Performance Optics, also of Overland Park, agreed to pay a $650,000 criminal fine for exporting night vision devices without a license. Also in 2003, Cook Composites and Polymers Co. of North Kansas City agreed to pay a $6,000 fine to settle charges that it violated Commerce Department regulations aimed at countering the Arab boycott of Israel.

09-02-08, 07:59	#1 (permalink)
iranmp3 Jupiter Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Earth Posts: 5,146 Credits: 23,493 Thanks: 980 Thanked 2,657 Times in 1,017 Posts	Overland Park company fined $13,200 for export to Iran Overland Park company fined $13,200 for export to Iran By DAN MARGOLIES The Kansas City Star An Overland Park maker of navigation and landing aids has been fined for selling an aircraft landing system to Iran and falsely asserting that it was destined for Italy. Selex Sistemi Integrati Inc. has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $13,200 to settle the matter with the federal Bureau of Industry and Security, a subagency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The company was cited for violating two regulations. One bars the export of items without a license, and the other prohibits false statements regarding the country of ultimate destination on a shipper�s export declaration. Selex�s chief executive, Mike Warner, declined to discuss the circumstances of the sale to Iran. Speaking from Madrid, where he was traveling on a business trip, Warner on Friday said that the company �admitted no guilt whatsoever.� �There was a full and complete investigation of this matter extending over several years,� he said. �There was a small and obligatory fine we were required to pay to settle the matter. That�s all I�m prepared to say.� The case dates to November 2002, when the government contends Selex transshipped an instrument landing system from the United States to Italy. The landing system was then transshipped to Iran. Selex, which is at the intersection of West 89th Street and Nieman Road, had faced fines of up to $250,000 for each of the violations and the denial of its export privileges. Robert Clifton Burns, an international business lawyer with Powell Goldstein in Washington, D.C., speculated on his ExportLaw blog Friday that the reason the fine may have been so low is that instrument landing systems are a key component of aviation safety. U.S. sanctions against Iran, he wrote, �have been severely criticized for their detrimental impact on aviation safety and have been argued to have played a role in a recent civilian air disaster in Iran.� Burns also noted that only rarely does the Bureau of Industry and Security impose fines in the six- or seven-figure range, reserving such penalties �for the most egregious cases.� Selex is a subsidiary of Selex Sistemi Integrati SpA of Italy, which in turn is part of Finmeccanica of Italy, a major European defense contractor. It was formerly known as Alenia Marconi, which acquired Airport Systems International Inc. from Elecsys Corp. of Overland Park in late 2001. In September 2003, when it was still Alenia Marconi, the FBI and other investigators searched the plant, which designs and manufactures ground-based radio navigation and landing aids. At the time, investigators declined to comment on their investigation. The company�s then chief executive, James Freney, acknowledged the search and said that Alenia Marconi was cooperating with authorities. Selex is not the first area company to run afoul of U.S. export regulations. In 2003, Bushnell Performance Optics, also of Overland Park, agreed to pay a $650,000 criminal fine for exporting night vision devices without a license. Also in 2003, Cook Composites and Polymers Co. of North Kansas City agreed to pay a $6,000 fine to settle charges that it violated Commerce Department regulations aimed at countering the Arab boycott of Israel.

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