Corporate Crime Case Database

On September 1, 2026, Yenkin  Majestic Paint Corporation (Yenkin) pleaded guilty to violating the negligent endangerment provision of the Clean Air Act for an explosion that killed one employee and injured many more (42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(4)). 

Yenkin  manufactured industrial coatings and resin in Columbus, Ohio. This process required heating ingredients in large steel vessels known as “kettles.” In 2020, Yenkin fabricated and installed a new door, known as a “manway” on top of Kettle 3. This door allowed access inside the kettle. Working in conjunction with a local fabrication company, Yenkin installed the new manway in December 2020. 

Despite several high-pressure spikes,  Yenkin never pressure tested the new manway before placing it back in service. Once installed, it immediately began leaking. Nevertheless, Yenkin continued to utilize Kettle  3, opting instead to add a thicker gasket that the company mistakenly thought was made of Teflon, but was actually silicone. 

On April 8, 2021, Yenkin employees were producing a resin in Kettle 3. The operator did not know that the agitator had stopped, likely due to electrical work Yenkin was conducting at the time. Around midnight, the operator turned the agitator back on, causing the contents to vaporize and increasing the pressure inside the kettle. Moments later, Kettle 3’s closed manway and gasket could no longer contain the pressure and began to release a mixture of hot resin liquid and flammable solvent vapor into the plant.

Multiple flammable gas detectors inside the facility started detecting an increasing concentration of flammable vapors during the release. However, the flammable gas detectors were not configured to sound an audible alarm. At 12:04 a.m., the released flammable vapors found an ignition source and exploded, which led to the death of one employee and severe injuries to several others. The explosion also damaged the resin plant and nearby structures.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office Bureau of Criminal Investigation, and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency Special Investigations Unit, conducted the investigation with support from the U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

On August 28, 2026, MSC Shipmanagement Limited (MSC) and Hong Kong Spirit Shipping and Trading Limited (Hong Kong Spirit) pleaded guilty and were sentenced. Both companies will pay a combined fine of $1.75 million and complete four-year terms of probation. They pleaded guilty to two counts of violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) for illegally discharging oily waste into the sea (33 U.S.C. § 1908(a)). 

MSC, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, operated a fleet of sea-going vessels, including the M/V MSC Samira III. Hong Kong Spirit was the vessel’s registered owner. Between June and September 2024, senior officers in the vessel’s engine department instructed lower-level crew members to pump oily bilge water from the vessel’s bilge holding tank to the sewage holding tank using portable pumps and hoses. The crew then discharged the oily bilge water into the sea using the sewage holding tank’s overboard discharge valve, bypassing the oil water separator (OWS). They also failed to record these discharges in the ship’s oil record book (ORB), as required. 

Additionally, several times between September 2024 and January 2025, senior engine department crew members also tricked the OWS by running fresh water instead of oily bilge water through the equipment’s oil content monitor. This allowed them to discharge oily bilge water directly into the sea through the OWS. These discharges also were not accurately recorded in the ORB.

Second Engineer Mikhail Tsurikov pleaded guilty to violating APPS and was sentenced to complete a three-year term of probation. 

The U.S. Coast Guard conducted the investigation. 

On August 20, 2026, the court sentenced Sunseeker International (a company based in the United Kingdom) and Sunseeker USA Sales (a Delaware corporation) to pay a $200,000 fine, complete a five-year term of probation, and implement an environmental compliance plan. The defendants pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(B)(i), 3373(d)(2)).

The companies used illegally harvested teak from Myanmar to construct their yachts in violation of British law. They then sold and transported those yachts from the United Kingdom to the United States. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.

On August 12, 2026, the court unsealed an indictment charging César P. Borges-Arroyo, Neftalí Borges-Gómez, Erison Delgado-Santos, Héctor Fulgencio-Cabrera, and Ganaderos Borges, Inc. (GBI), with conspiracy and four violations of the Clean Water Act (18 U.S.C. § 371; 33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(a), 1319(c)(2)(A)). 

GBI is a corporation in Naguabo, Puerto Rico, that operates a slaughterhouse and meat processing plant. The operations encompass receiving and holding live animals for slaughter, butchering animals (bleeding), initial processing of animals, and operations that produce consumer-ready meat products. According to the indictment, the defendants conspired to knowingly discharge a pollutant (wastewater from the meat processing waste retention lagoon) into waters of the United States without a Clean Water Act permit.

Between August 2018 and September 2025, GBI president Borges-Arroyo and GBI operator Borges-Gómez directed employees, including Delgado-Santos and Fulgencio-Cabrera, to discharge liquid waste from GBI’s waste retention lagoon towards an adjacent creek. They did this by using a submersible pump placed in the waste retention lagoon and connected to a hose, attempting to avoid millions of dollars in annual waste removal costs. GBI held a non-discharge wastewater treatment permit that required the company to haul liquid waste from the facility to a disposal facility. At no time was any waste permitted to be discharged on-site or to any other body of water. This permit expired in July 2019, and they continued to violate the Clean Water Act until September 2025.

GBI generated waste from various on-site processes, including animal intake, slaughtering, hide removal, butchering, and cleaning. The waste included animal blood, hair, tissue, and feces, as well as grease, wastewater, disinfectant, and other liquids used inside the GBI slaughterhouse and processing areas. The mixed waste flowed from the facility to a discharge pipe that emptied into a waste retention lagoon located on the southwest corner of the GBI property. The western edge of the waste retention lagoon is next to a creek which travels approximately half-a-mile to the Caribbean Sea at Tropical Beach in Naguabo, Puerto Rico. 

To conceal the illegal waste discharge, the defendants hid the submersible pump and hose when not in use and provided false and misleading statements and documents to authorities to hide their illegal activities.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Both agencies participate in the Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Environmental Crimes Task Force.

On August 10, 2026, the court sentenced a vessel operating company and the company’s chief engineer following an incident in June 2024 where the vessel, MSC Michigan VII, caused the evacuation of a large bridge in Charleston, South Carolina. The event also created a significant wake that injured two people, damaged ships and piers, and led to the clearing of local beaches.

MSC Shipmanagement Limited (MSC) will pay a $6 million fine and complete a four-year term of probation. The company pleaded guilty to failing to report a hazardous condition on the vessel and to obstructing a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) investigation. MSC must also conduct a root-cause analysis of the circumstances relating to the hazardous conditions onboard the MSC Michigan VII.

Chief engineer Fernando San Diego San Juan was sentenced to pay a $2,000 fine. He pleaded guilty to failing to report a hazardous condition and obstructing the investigation (46 U.S.C. § 70036(b)(1); 18 U.S.C. § 1505).

On June 5, 2024, the MSC Michigan VII departed from Charleston. The vessel intended to travel up the Cooper River to a turning basin. Once it turned around, it was to proceed down along the river, beneath the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge (bridge), through Charleston Harbor, and out to sea. The bridge is an eight-lane thoroughfare spanning two-and-a-half miles and connecting Charleston with Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. 

During this outbound transit, the linkage rod (LR) disconnected from the vessel’s governor (which regulates speed) after the vessel’s crew manually adjusted it. As a result, the main engine sped up to 16-17 knots. The bridge was evacuated over concerns the vessel might strike it, though the ship passed underneath and out to sea. The wake caused by the vessel’s passing however, damaged ships and piers, injured two people on a beach, and forced officials to clear local beaches. 

At times, the exact revolutions per minute (rpms) ordered by the MSC Michigan VII’s bridge telegraph could be achieved only if the length of the LR between the governor and fuel rack was manually adjusted. Only trained technicians should manually adjust a vessel’s governor and LR, and none of the engineering crew onboard the MSC Michigan VII were qualified to do so. Despite this, when the vessel was either entering or departing a port, the engineering crew had to pay attention to the bridge telegraph order that could be seen in the engine control room. As needed, they would go to the governor and manually adjust the length of the LR until the desired rpms were reached. 

Additionally, bridge crew members would occasionally call the engine control room and request the rpms be raised or lowered to match the telegraph order. Chief Engineer San Diego San Juan knew that this practice was hazardous because manually adjusting the length of the LR could cause it to fail. Even so, he allowed the practice to continue. 

Both the failure of the engine to achieve the rpms dictated by the bridge telegraph and the manual adjustment to the LR during maneuvering constituted hazardous conditions that should have been reported to the USCG.

During their investigation, the USCG and the NTSB interviewed San Diego San Juan and asked him if the LR was ever adjusted. He lied and said that the crew never adjusted the LR and only a qualified technician would do the adjustment. The NTSB and USCG reinterviewed San Diego San Juan and asked him whether there had been a delay between the bridge telegraph and the main engine response in the past. He lied and said no. Investigators asked him again if anyone had ever adjusted the LR and he said no. 

San Diego San Juan also told a few crew members what he told the USCG and told them to repeat the same version of events when questioned so they would all be on “the same page.” 

The U.S. Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board conducted the investigation.

On July 17, 2026, the court sentenced Seafood Supply Company, L.P. (SSC) to pay a $250,000 fine, complete a three-year term of probation, and implement an environmental compliance plan. SSC pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging the company with two Lacey Act false labeling violations(16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(d)(1), 3373(d)(3)(A)(i)). 

SSC is a seafood wholesaler in Dallas, Texas. Between January 2020 and February 2022, the company sold Chilean salmon that it falsely labeled as more expensive salmon from Scotland, Norway, and Canada. The defendant used this fraudulent “country-of-origin” labeling scheme to generate illegal gains of approximately $200,000. 

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.

On June 5, 2026, a court sentenced Applied Partners, LLC, to pay a $500,000 fine and to complete a two-year term of probation. The company pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act for illegally handling regulated asbestos-containing material (RACM) (42 U.S.C. §§ 7412(h), 7413(c)(1)).

Between September and October 2019, Applied Partners conducted a demolition project at a defunct industrial site in Saginaw, Michigan. Applied Partners knew that a structure at the project site known as the “Powerhouse” contained RACM but nevertheless instructed contractors to demolish it in violation of multiple National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutant work practice standards for asbestos. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation, with assistance from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division Environmental Investigation Section. 

On May 12, 2026, a court unsealed an 18-count indictment charging two companies and one individual. The charges stem from the March 26, 2024, crash of the Motor Vessel Dali into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, which caused the death of six individuals and the destruction of the bridge.

Synergy Marine Pte Ltd, based in Singapore, and Synergy Maritime Pte Ltd, based in Chennai, India, are charged in the indictment, along with Radhakrishnan Karthik Nair. Nair is an Indian national who worked for both companies as the Technical Superintendent for the Dali.

According to the indictment, the Dali lost power twice in a four-minute span as it navigated out to sea from the Port of Baltimore, causing it to crash into the Key Bridge. The indictment alleges that a loose wire in a high-voltage switchboard likely caused the first power loss. Critical systems on the Dali were originally designed with reliable redundancies and automatic restart capabilities so the Dali could quickly regain power after a blackout. But shortly after the vessel regained power, it lost power again. The investigation determined that the defendants altered the Dali and relied on a flushing pump to supply fuel to two of the vessel’s four generators. However, the flushing pump was not designed to automatically restart following a blackout, and the  generators could not operate without a fuel supply, so the ship ultimately experienced a second blackout. The indictment alleges that if the Dali used the proper fuel supply pumps, the vessel would have regained power in time to safely navigate under the Key Bridge.

The charges include conspiracy, willfully failing to immediately inform the U.S. Coast Guard of a known hazardous condition, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and false statements. The two Synergy corporations are also charged with misdemeanor violations of the Clean Water Act, Oil Pollution Act, and the Refuse Act for the discharge of pollutants into the Patapsco River, including shipping containers and their contents, oil, and the bridge itself (18 U.S.C. § 371; 46 U.S.C. § 70036 (Ports & Waterways Safety Act – Failure to Report a Hazardous Condition); 18 U.S.C. § 1115 (Misconduct or Neglect of Ship Officers Resulting in Death); 18 U.S.C. § 1505 (Obstruction of an Agency Proceeding); 18 U.S.C. § 1001 (False Statements); 33 U.S.C. §§ 1311, 1319 and 1321 (Clean Water Act – Discharge of Pollutants, Oil Pollution Act – Discharge of a Harmful Quantity of Oil); and 33 U.S.C. §§ 407 and 411 (Refuse Act)). 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation. 

On May 11, 2026, Sunseeker International (a company based in the United Kingdom) and Sunseeker USA Sales (a Delaware corporation) pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(B)(i), 3373(d)(2)). Sentencing is scheduled for August 20, 2026.

 The companies used illegally harvested teak from Myanmar to construct their yachts in violation of British law. They then sold and transported those yachts from the United Kingdom to the United States.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.

On May 1, 2026, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Ramon Plaza-Gregory, Ileana Cortes-Gonzalez, and Mo-Na-Co Biomedical & Environmental Corp. (Monaco) with conspiracy and Clean Air Act violations (18 U.S.C. § 371; 42 U.S.C. 7413(c)(1)).

Monaco is a company that owned a commercial incinerator in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. Plaza-Gregory is the Monaco president and Cortes-Gonzalez is an operator at this facility that processed biomedical, pathological and miscellaneous waste.

Monaco operated under a permit that limited it to the type of materials that could be burned and the amount of emissions that could be released. Starting in August of 2021, Plaza-Gregory and Cortes-Gonzalez burned unpermitted materials, used malfunctioning equipment, and exceeded emissions limitations. After an inspector from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told the defendants of the violations, Plaza-Gregory began operating Monaco’s incinerator on weekends and holidays. The defendants continued to operate the incinerator illegally and emissions excesses were documented again in July 2024. Following the permit expiration in September 2024, the defendants continued to illegally operate the incinerator on weekends until April 2026.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Both agencies participate in the Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Environmental Crimes Task Force.

On April 27, 2026, the Boise Cascade Company pleaded guilty and was sentenced for a felony violation of the Lacey Act for its role in a timber trafficking scheme to evade anti-dumping duties (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1), 3373(d)(1)(B)). Boise Cascade was ordered to pay a $6,382,000 fine (representing twice the gross profits it derived from the illegal wood at issue in this case), complete a five-year term of probation, and will implement a compliance plan. Boise Cascade is the third federal criminal enforcement action to come out of this large-scale duty evasion scheme.

Boise Cascade is a publicly traded company with a distribution center in Pompano, Florida. Boise Cascade purchased wood from Horizon Plywood (Horizon), whose principals, Noel and Kelsy Quintana, were sentenced in February 2024 for conspiracy and Lacey Act violations based on their illegal importation of hardwood plywood. Horizon employee, Marta Angelbello, was also sentenced after pleading guilty to making a false statement related to her role in the scheme.

Between 2018 and 2021, Boise Cascade’s Pompano location purchased hardwood plywood from Horizon, totaling more than $30 million. Beginning in approximately 2019, Boise Cascade purchased, received, sold, and transported hardwood plywood from Horizon knowing (including actions manifesting willful blindness) that hardwood plywood was illegally imported from China. Boise Cascade knew that Horizon smuggled the wood using falsified import declarations. For example, Horizon transshipped products from China to Malaysia, where it moved product into new containers, and then from Malaysia to the United States. Boise Cascade knew or should have known the plywood purchased from Horizon was sourced from China.

Boise Cascade was also aware that the United States executed a search warrant at Horizon’s warehouse in South Florida in January 2021. Despite knowing Horizon was under federal investigation, Boise Cascade still placed and received at least 10 new orders for birch plywood in the two weeks following execution of the search warrant.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation, with support from Customs and Border Protection.

On April 17, 2026, a court sentenced GOTEC Plus Sun, LLC, (GOTEC) for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste storage provision (42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)(A)). The company will pay a $270,000 fine and complete a one-year term of probation. General Manager Natalie Fehse was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine and complete a five-year term of probation to include 10 months of home detention for the same charge.

GOTEC applied coatings and adhesives to metal automotive parts and generated hazardous waste when the manufacturing equipment was cleaned of overspray. The Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection inspected the facility in June 2024 and discovered 249 drums and 27 cubic yards of hazardous waste stored without a permit throughout the facility.

Between January 2022 and November 2024, GOTEC did not properly dispose of all the hazardous waste it was generating, including hazardous waste that had been accumulating at the facility since 2022. GOTEC stated that it stopped properly disposing of hazardous due to staffing issues, and decreased revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, it stored hazardous waste at the facility without a RCRA permit.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.