Today the Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) announced that Egyptair has agreed to pay a penalty of $140,000 to settle charges that Egyptair leased two Boeing 737-566 commercial aircraft to Sudan Airways.  The penalty is payable in four equal installments every three months starting on February 1, 2016. The Settlement Agreement further provides that should Egyptair not make any of these payments in a timely fashion, BIS can enter a one-year export denial order. Since such an order, which would forbid any U.S. person to export any item to the airline, would be a one-year kiss of death, it seems likely that Egyptair will make each $35,000 payment in a timely fashion.

It was hardly a secret that Egyptair had leased these aircraft to Sudan Airways. BIS hardly had to use its secret decoder rings and shoe phones to uncover the deal. It was publicly reported in various aviation databases such as this one here. The highly public nature of the transaction also suggests that Egyptair thought the lease was permissible and simply was unaware of the meglomaniacal position of BIS and the U.S. government that the U.S. has jurisdiction over anyone anywhere in the world who touches any item that was ever in the United States.

One more thing: Sudan Airways is on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, so it should not be too long before OFAC chimes in and gets more cash from Egyptair for leasing these aircraft not just to Sudan but to an SDN in Sudan.

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