Posts by Lucas Nolan

 

Amazon Under Federal Investigation over Sales to Individuals Linked to Iran

Posted on by

AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File
Amazon is currently under federal investigation following the revelation that the company may have violated U.S. sanctions against Iran and could have sold consumer goods to at least one individual on the government’s terrorism watchlist. SiliconBeat reports that in their quarterly financial report published on July 28th, Amazon revealed that they had sold approximately $300 worth of goods to an individual on the government’s terrorist watchlist. A separate regulatory filing from February showed another sale of $1300 made to another individual on the list. The July 28th document appears to show multiple other high-value sales that would violate the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act and possibly other U.S. sanctions and export-control laws. As a result, the Commerce and Treasury departments are actively investigating Amazon, the Iranian sales, and the customer on the terrorist watch list. If wrongdoing is found on the part of Amazon, the company may face heavy penalties from the Commerce and Treasury departments. SiliconBeat reports that Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment but later stated that they plan to “cooperate fully” with all investigation efforts. The disclosure from July 28th appears to show that between January 2012 and June 2017, Amazon sold $24,700 worth of “consumer
Continue reading…