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The U.S. Department of Commerce announced today that Zooma Enterprises, Inc. (Zooma), of San Diego, California, and its president, Issa Salomi, have agreed to pay $32,000 in civil penalties to settle charges that they made false statements to the U.S. Government in connection with an attempted export of medical equipment to Iraq. Mr. Salomi will pay a $24,000 fine and Zooma will pay an $8,000 fine.
The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) charged that Zooma violated the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by listing the country of ultimate destination on a Shipper’s Export Declaration as Jordan, when the destination was, in fact, Iraq. BIS also charged that Issa Salomi committed three violations of the EAR by filing a petition with the U.S. Customs Service that falsely represented facts about the sale of the medical equipment, an ampul filling and sealing machine, including its ultimate destination.
Acting Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Lisa A. Prager commended Special Agent Michael Imbrogna of the Office of Export Enforcement’s field office in Boston, Massachusetts, who investigated this case.