The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned eight Iranian officials and three Iranian entities for their ties to human rights abuses against women and girls. The designations target senior officials in Iran’s prison system, a top army commander, a high-ranking leader in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and others. Also sanctioned was Iranian security services supplier Naji Pas Co. and CEO Reza Asgharian; security services provider Naji Pars Amin Institute and CEO Bahram Abdollahinejad; and police equipment importer Entebagh Gostar Sepehr Co. and CEO Gholamreza Ramezanian Sani.
Although many of the U.S. sanctions against Russia have been in place for months, companies are still dealing with a range of compliance challenges, Crowell & Moring trade lawyers said this week, especially involving Russia-related service restrictions. They also said they don’t expect the pace of sanctions to slow anytime soon, especially as the U.S. ramps up enforcement efforts this year.
The Bureau of Industry and Security will increase the number of penalties it issues against corporations for export violations this year, an effort it hopes will lead to improved industry compliance, the top export BIS enforcement official said last week. DOJ also will concentrate more resources on targeting export violators, a top agency official said, and plans to significantly expand its Export Control Section.
The U.S. this week sanctioned six entities and 20 vessels that have helped transport or sell Iranian petroleum or petrochemical products. The designations target companies based in China, Vietnam, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, including China-based Global Marine Ship Management. Co. and Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping. Co., the State Department said. The 20 designated ships have ties to Shanghai Xuanrun Shipping, Vietnam-based Golden Lotus Oil Gas and Real Estate Joint Stock Company, and UAE-based Swedish Management Co.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned eight Mexican companies linked to a scam involving “timeshare fraud” on behalf of Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, a “violent” Mexican drug trafficking organization. The agency also issued new guidance to alert industry about the scam and other schemes, including one involving people falsely claiming to represent OFAC and requesting payments through phone calls and emails.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned three entities and two people “illicitly generating revenue” for North Korea. The designations target Chilsong Trading Corp., a North Korean government trading company, and Korea Paekho Trading Corp., a government-controlled company that conducts art and construction projects for “regimes” throughout the Middle East and Africa. OFAC also sanctioned Hwang Kil Su, Pak Hwa Song and their Democratic Republic of the Congo-based company, Congo Aconde SARL, which earns revenue from construction and statue-building projects with local governments.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined an Indian tobacco manufacturer $332,500 this week for violating U.S. sanctions against North Korea. Mumbai-based Godfrey Phillips India Limited (GPI), which didn’t voluntarily disclose the violations, settled with OFAC after the company used U.S. banks to receive payments for indirect tobacco shipments to North Korea, OFAC said, and used third-party companies to try to hide the payments’ connection to North Korea.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control updated an existing China-related entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List. The entry is for Hebei Atun Trading Co., a company sanctioned by OFAC in 2021 for its involvement in fentanyl precursor chemical sales and falsifying chemical shipment details.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Jesus Cisneros Hernandez, a Mexican arms trafficker, for his ties to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG), a “violent Mexico-based organization” that traffics fentanyl and other drugs that enter the U.S., OFAC said. It said the designation was coordinated with Mexico and noted CJNG was previously sanctioned in 2015.
Mohammad Ibrahim Bazzi, a citizen of Lebanon and Belgium, and Talal Chahine, a Lebanese citizen, were charged as part of a conspiracy to launder money, cause U.S. citizens to conduct illegal transactions with a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and conduct illegal transactions with a sanctioned terrorist, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York announced Feb. 24. Each charge carries the possible punishment of up to 20 years in prison.