Miami company owners plead guilty to export violations

Three family members of Miami-based AW-Tronics on Wednesday pleaded guilty to charges that they conspired to defraud the United States and illegally export aviation parts and equipment to Syria.    Three family members of a Miami-based company on Wednesday pleaded guilty to charges that they conspired to defraud the United States and illegally export aviation parts and equipment to Syria in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
   The individuals who pleaded guilty to the scheme in the district court of southern Florida included Ali “Alex” Caby,” 40; Arash “Axel” Caby, 43; and Marjan Caby, 34.  
   According to the Justice Department, Ali Caby ran the Bulgaria office of AW-Tronics, a Miami export company that was managed by Arash Caby, and which exported various aircraft parts and equipment to Syrian Arab Airlines (Syrian Air). Both Ali and Arash Caby supervised and encouraged AW-Tronics employees to make the unlawful exports to Syrian Air, while Marjan Caby, the company’s export compliance officer and auditor, facilitated the shipments by submitting false and misleading electronic export information to federal agencies.
   Syrian Air is on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated National list due to its transportation of weapons and munitions on behalf of Hizballah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). U.S. exports to Syria Air are blocked unless an OFAC license is obtained.
   The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom on Dec. 19. They face a maximum sentence of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.