Brian Assi, a Middle East-based salesman of a heavy machinery manufacturer, was convicted last week of violating sanctions against Iran after he tried to export U.S.-made drills to Iran without licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Mirghani Idris Suleiman for helping to procure weapons for the Sudanese Armed Forces, which is warring with the Rapid Support Forces and causing violence that has led to a humanitarian and human rights crisis in the country. OFAC said Suleiman serves as the director general of Defense Industries System, the SAF’s primary weapons production and procurement arm. OFAC sanctioned the procurement director for the Rapid Support Forces earlier this month (see 2410080018).
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an alert Oct. 23 to help financial institutions uncover illegal activity by Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization based in Lebanon.
An indictment was unsealed on Oct. 22 charging Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps brigadier general Ruhollah Bazghandi and members of his network with sanctions evasion, among other charges, in their efforts to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin in New York City, DOJ announced.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Oct. 23 removed Ukrainian citizen Olena Yurevna Semenova from its Specially Designated Nationals List. Semenova was designated in 2015 as part of an effort to counter Russia-related sanctions evasion. The agency didn’t provide more information, and a Treasury Department spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Lorena Valente, former sanctions compliance section chief at the Office of Foreign Assets Control, was named the agency’s new assistant director for licensing, she announced on LinkedIn. Valente has been at the Treasury Department since 2022.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with the top stories from last week in case you missed them. You can find any article by searching for the title or by clicking on the hyperlinked reference number.
Caroline Sapp, a former official in the Office of Foreign Assets Control's licensing division, left the Treasury Department last week to join the State Department, she announced on LinkedIn. Sapp didn’t provide details about her new role. She had worked at OFAC since 2015.
The U.S. on Oct. 15 urged the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to dismiss a lawsuit from nonprofit advocacy group Texas for Israel and its members challenging the constitutionality of the Biden administration's West Bank-related sanctions authority.
Both a potential Kamala Harris and a potential Donald Trump administration are likely to continue the U.S. government’s increasing focus on sanctions and export control enforcement, even if their approaches to specific trade measures may differ, such as tariffs against China or sanctions against Russia, said Adam Smith, a Gibson Dunn lawyer.