NewsMilitary

Actions

Company formerly known as Blackwater to pay $7.5M fine to settle arms smuggling charges

Posted at 9:25 PM, Aug 07, 2012
and last updated 2012-08-07 21:25:53-04

According to the Associated Press, the security firm formerly known as Blackwater has agreed to pay a $7.5 million to settle federal criminal charges related to arms smuggling and other crimes.

Documents unsealed Tuesday in a U.S. District Court in North Carolina said the company, now called Academi LLC, agreed to pay the fine as part of a deferred prosecution agreement to settle 17 violations.

The list of violations includes possessing automatic weapons in the United States without registration, lying to federal firearms regulators about weapons provided to the king of Jordan, passing secret plans for armored personnel carriers to Sweden and Denmark without U.S. government approval and illegally shipping body armor overseas.

Federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents said the company, which has held billions in U.S. security contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, repeatedly flouted U.S. laws.

Click here to read the full story from the Associated Press