The U.N. Security Council this week sanctioned Luckson Elan, a leader of Haiti’s Gran Grif gang, and Prophane Victor, a former member of Haiti's parliament. The council said Victor is “involved in weapons trafficking and using violence to secure political gain.” The U.S. sanctioned both in September (see 2409260002).
The U.S., U.K. and Australia this week sanctioned a group of people and entities that they said have ties to Russian cybercriminal group Evil Corp., which the Office of Foreign Assets Control designated in 2019 for its international hacking campaigns.
The U.K. will remove the licensing consideration relating to the provision of professional and business services from U.K. parent companies and their U.K. subsidiaries to their Russian subsidiaries, the Export Control Joint Unit announced on Sept. 30. Starting Oct. 31, the provision of intra-corporate services will no longer stand as a licensing consideration "that is likely to be consistent with the aims of the sanctions regime." The agency said companies looking to provide intra-corporate services to their Russian subsidiaries must "explicitly demonstrate how the provision of any ongoing services aligns with the overarching purposes of the sanctions."
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a Russia-related general license that authorizes certain transactions involving the Russian Federation's Central Bank, Wealth Fund and Ministry of Finance. General License No. 13K, which replaced 13J, now authorizes those transactions, including taxes, fees, or import duties, through 12:01 a.m. EST Jan. 8. The license was set to expire Oct. 9
The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed Swiss national Inga Rettich from its Specially Designated Nationals List, who it originally sanctioned in 2022 for ties to Russian businessman and investor Murat Magomedovich Aliev. OFAC also deleted the vessel Flying Fox, a Cayman Islands-flagged yacht that it sanctioned in 2022 for being owned by Imperial Yachts SARL, a yacht brokerage for Russian elites. The agency didn’t release more information.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week deleted Prominvestbank, a former Ukrainian bank, from its Specially Designated Nationals List. It was forcibly liquidated by the National Bank of Ukraine after Russia took control of the bank following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The bank remains on OFAC's Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List, which includes people and entities that the agency said are operating in certain significant sectors of the Russian economy. OFAC didn’t release more information.
A senior U.S. Treasury Department official said the agency has made progress in addressing criticism that its sanctions are ineffective and difficult to comply with, pointing to recent guidance issued by Treasury and the increase in U.S. sanctions coordinated with close U.S. allies.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned an Iranian military official and six employees of an Iranian cybersecurity company for interfering in the 2024 and 2020 U.S. presidential elections.
The U.S. this week sanctioned Prophane Victor, a former member of Haiti’s parliament, for helping and arming gangs in Haiti that have committed human rights abuses, the Treasury Department said. It’s also designating Luckson Elan, leader of the Gran Grif gang, for his involvement in human rights abuses stemming from gang activity in Haiti’s Artibonite department. Brad Smith, Treasury’s acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said the agency is “committed to holding accountable those who seek to leverage human rights abuses, violence, and corruption to achieve their political aims.”
The U.K. added two entities to the Russia sanctions regime on Sept. 26. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation sanctioned Ocean Speedstar Solutions OPC Pvt Ltd and White Fox Ship Management FZCO for operating in the Russian energy sector, a "sector of strategic significance to the Government of Russia."