ATKINSON FIRM FINED $140K FOR EXPORT VIOLATIONS
Intertech Trading Corp., an Atkinsonbased laboratory equipment distributor, has been fined $140,000 on 14 felony counts of failing to file export information on shipments to Russia and Ukraine between 2015 and 2019.
Intertech pleaded guilty to falsely describing the nature and value of the exported items on commercial invoices and shipping forms, the U.S. attorney’s office in New Hampshire said.
Intertech pleaded guilty to the charges in July and was sentenced in federal court on Monday. It admitted that it drastically undervalued the shipments, thereby evading the requirement to file Electronic Export Information, which would have been reported to the departments of Commerce and Homeland Security, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
As previously reported in NH Business Review, the parts included laser assemblies and other sophisticated scientific equipment that were falsely identified as for use in such products as an aquarium, a welding system and multimedia at reported values much lower than they actually were.
The charges, filed on June 6 by the U.S. attorney, concern exports from 2016 to 2019, before Russia’s current invasion of Ukraine began in February. But tensions between the two countries date back to 2005, and in 2014 pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Donbas region declared independence, percolating fighting that has resulted in the death of 15,000 people, according to the Ukrainian government.
ACQUISITION OF MERCHANTS FLEET COMPLETED
The acquisition of Hooksettbased Merchants Fleet by investment firm Bain Capital and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority of Bain Capital has been completed, the company announced.
The company’s leadership team — which is also involved in the acquisition — will remain in their current roles, Merchants said. CEO Brendan P. Keegan has assumed additional roles of president and chairperson.
Merchants, a fast-growing national fleet management company, provides fleets of vehicles and management of those vehicles to 20 industries. It is now the fourth-largest fleet management company in the United States, with more than 165,000 units across North America.
Merchants Auto, the flagship of the 60-year-old company, sells used vehicles in Hooksett.
MANUFACTURER UNVEILS $11M EXPANSION PLAN
Momentum Manufacturing Group- Engineered Extrusions has announced plans for a second phase of capacity expansion at its Franklin site.
The company, formerly known as Vitex Extrusion, manufactures custom aluminum profiles for various industries. It is investing $11 million to expand production at its manufacturing facility at 43 Industrial Park Drive.
The investment includes a $6 million construction project to add 35,000 square feet of manufacturing and logistical support space to the company’s existing 115,000-square-foot facility. Another $5 million will be devoted to new automated handling equipment to support expanded production volumes made possible by a new 2,920- ton, eight-inch extrusion press line that was added as part of phase one’s $14 million investment.
The project is expected to create 35 advanced manufacturing career opportunities.
Right now, the company employs more than 150 people across its extrusion manufacturing facility and machining and fabrication operation.
BOZAK NAMED NEW COO/PRES. AT FRANKLIN SAVINGS BANK
Brian Bozak has been promoted to president and chief operating officer of Franklin Savings Bank, succeeding Ron Magoon as president, although Magoon will remain CEO until his retirement in 2024, the bank announced.
Bozak joined Franklin Savings in 2016 as senior vice president, chief financial officer and treasurer and was later promoted to executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief operating officer. He has over 21 years of experience in the banking industry and was CFO of Flagship Community Bank in Clearwater, Fla., before joining Franklin Savings.
