The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three Iranian militia leaders for attacks on peaceful protests and an Iraqi millionaire for corruption, Treasury said in a Dec. 6 press release. The militia leaders, Qais al-Khazali, Laith al-Khazali and Husayn Falih ‘Aziz al-Lami, opened fire on protesters, killing dozens, Treasury said. Both Qais al-Khazali and Laith al-Khazali are leaders of Iran-backed Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, a militia in Iraq. ‘Aziz al-Lami was tasked by senior militia commanders to suppress protests in Iraq and was a part of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force. Khamis Farhan al-Khanjar al-Issawi, an Iraqi businessman, allegedly bribed government officials for “personal gain,” including by securing government contracts, Treasury said.
The State Department designated Amadou Kouffa a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, according to a notice. Kouffa was previously added to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals List for his involvement with a West African terrorist group (see 1911070035).
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 17 people and seven entities, including Russia-based Evil Corp, for acting as “malicious cyber-enabled actors,” according to a Dec. 5 press release. Evil Corp is a “cybercriminal” organization responsible for the development of Dridex malware, which infects computers to harvest login credentials from “hundreds” of banks in more than 40 countries, leading to more than $100 million in theft, Treasury said. Evil Corp’s actions have caused “millions of dollars of damage” to U.S. and international financial institutions, including their customers, the press release said.
An Iranian businessman was sentenced to 46 months in prison for illegally exporting carbon fiber from the U.S. to Iran, the Justice Department said Nov. 14. Behzad Pourghannad worked with two others between 2008 and 2013 to export the carbon fiber to Iran from third countries using falsified documents and front companies, the agency said.
A Lebanese energy equipment company was fined $368,000 by the Bureau of Industry and Security after it illegally reexported generators to Syria, according to a settlement agreement signed Nov. 27. Ghaddar Machinery allegedly committed 20 violations of the Export Administration Regulations from 2014 to 2016, totaling about $730,000 worth of exports, BIS said. Ghaddar agreed to pay the penalty in five installments through November 2021. Failure to make the payments could result in more penalties, according to the settlement agreement, including a two-year denial of export privileges.
Apple was fined about $465,000 for violations of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Sanctions Regulations after it hosted, sold and “facilitated the transfer” of software applications and content belonging to a sanctioned company, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said in a Nov. 25 notice. Apple allegedly dealt in “the property and interests” of SIS d.o.o., a Slovenian software company added to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List in 2015.
Export Compliance Daily is providing this recap of sanctions and export controls enforcement over the past year. Intended to assist export compliance professionals, lawyers and others in the export world stay up to date with current enforcement trends, this guide includes summaries of prominent enforcement actions by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Controls, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, and the Justice Department since Export Compliance Daily began publishing in March 2019.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control identified and sanctioned six ships belonging to Petroleos de Venezuela, Venezuela's sanctioned state-owned energy company, Treasury said in a Dec. 3 press release. The agency also identified the vessel Esperanza as blocked property of Caroil Transport Marine Ltd., which was sanctioned by OFAC in September. Esperanza was previously listed on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List as “Nedas,” Treasury said.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for Nov. 25-29 in case you missed them.
A U.S. electronics and computer component company may have violated U.S. sanctions on Iran and Syria, the company said in a Nov. 7 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Colorado-based Arrow Electronics said a “limited number of non-executive employees … facilitated product shipment” to customers for re-export to people covered by U.S. sanctions on Iran and Syria. The transactions took place between 2015 and 2019 and were valued at about $5,000, the company said. Arrow Electronics said it voluntarily disclosed the potential violations to the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls and the Commerce Department Bureau of Industry and Security earlier this year. It also disciplined or fired employees involved in the transactions and said it plans to “cooperate fully” with BIS and OFAC. The company said it is not able to “estimate” the potential penalty it may receive.