The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two Russian nationals involved in the cybertheft of nearly $17 million, it said in a Sept. 16 news release. The designations target Danil Potekhin and Dmitrii Karasavidi for orchestrating a phishing campaign that targeted U.S. citizens and businesses through fake web domains that mimicked “legitimate virtual currency exchanges,” OFAC alleged. When people accessed the domains and entered their personal information, Potekhin and Karasavidi allegedly stole that information and accessed real virtual currency accounts. OFAC said Potekhin and Karasavidi are also the subjects of a Justice Department indictment.

The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation amended 69 entries under its Ukraine-related sanctions, a Sept. 14 notice said. It revised identifying information for the entries, which are still subject to an asset freeze.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 15 sanctioned a Chinese state-owned entity, the former first lady of Gambia and a United Kingdom-based company for corruption and human rights abuses under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.

The U.S. extended by one year a national emergency authorizing sanctions against foreign people and entities that interfere in U.S. elections, the White House said Sept. 10. The authority would have expired Sept. 12.

The State Department designated Andrew Wonplo, the former director of passport and visas at the Liberian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, due to involvement in corruption while in office, the agency said Sept. 10. The State Department also designated as ineligible for entry into the U.S. Wonplo's spouse, Dennice, and their minor children.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 10 designated a member of the Ukrainian parliament and three employees of the sanctioned Internet Research Agency for helping Russia interfere in U.S. elections. The sanctions target Andrii Derkach, a parliament member said to be a Russian agent who helped create “false and unsubstantiated narratives” about U.S. officials ahead of the 2020 presidential election, OFAC said. The agency also sanctioned IRA employees and Russian nationals Artem Lifshits, Anton Andreyev and Darya Aslanova, who helped support IRA cryptocurrency accounts.

President Donald Trump renewed Cuban trade sanctions authorized under the Trading With the Enemy Act for one year, until Sept. 14, 2021, a Sept. 9 White House memorandum said. The act authorizes sanctions under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations.

The U.S. and allies are considering imposing sanctions (see 2008270042) against Belarusian officials related to that country’s rigged elections, including the recent “abduction” and forced expulsion of Alexander Lukashenko’s political opponents, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. Although the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control already imposed some Belarusian sanctions, Pompeo said Sept. 8 he is considering “additional targeted sanctions to promote accountability for those involved in human rights abuses.”

The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 8 sanctioned two former Lebanese government officials for corruption and supporting Hezbollah. The designations target former Lebanese minister of transportation and public works Yusuf Finyanus and former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil. OFAC also added identifying information for Reinaldo Enrique Munoz Pedroza, who was sanctioned Sept. 4 (see 2009040023).

The Office of Foreign Assets Control identified and sanctioned four people who “have facilitated the illegitimate Maduro regime’s efforts to undermine the independence and democratic order of Venezuela,” the Department of the Treasury said in a Sept. 4 news release. “These individuals include David Eugenio De Lima Salas, Reinaldo Enrique Munoz Pedroza, Indira Maira Alfonzo Izaguirre, and Jose Luis Gutierrez Parra,” OFAC said. “Their actions are part of a broader election interference scheme to prevent free and fair parliamentary elections from taking place in December 2020 by restructuring the National Electoral Council and controlling the state’s wealth and assets for regime purposes through the Solicitor General,” OFAC said in the release.