DOJ reports Cadence Design to pay over $140M in penalties

The Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California, announced that Cadence Design (CDNS) Systems, a multinational electronic design automation technology company, has agreed to plead guilty to resolve charges that Cadence committed criminal violations of export controls by selling EDA hardware, software, and semiconductor design intellectual property technology to the National University of Defense Technology. The Department filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California a criminal information charging Cadence with conspiracy to commit export control violations and the Department’s plea agreement with Cadence, pursuant to which the company has agreed to plead guilty and pay criminal penalties of nearly $118M to resolve the charges. In addition to the criminal charges, the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security announced the resolution of a parallel civil enforcement action against Cadence in which Cadence has agreed to pay over $95M in civil penalties. After the Department of Justice and BIS credit payments made by Cadence under the coordinated agreements, Cadence will pay aggregate net criminal and civil penalties and forfeiture totaling more than $140M.