An international security company formerly known as Blackwater has agreed to pay $7.5 million in order to settle charges of arms sales violations and other illegal activity.
The firm, now called Academi, reached the agreement to settle charges including possessing weapons in the US without proper registration, lying to federal regulators about weapons supplied to the King of Jordan, the unauthorised sale of satellite phones to Sudan, military training to foreign government forces, passing on secret information regarding armoured personal carriers to Sweden and Denmark and various other crimes.
Blackwater, which held billions of dollars in security contracts in both Iraq and Afghanistan, commented,
"The agreement, which does not involve any guilty plea or admit to any violations, reflects the significant and tangible efforts that Academi's new ownership and leadership team have made... The company is fully committed to this agreement and looks forward to successfully fulfilling its obligations on this legacy matter as we continue to lead by example in our regulatory and compliance efforts."
Meanwhile, Brock Nicholson, special agent in charge of US immigration and customs enforcement investigations in North Carolina, said,
"This company clearly violated US laws by exporting sensitive technical data and unauthorised defence services to a host of countries around the world".
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