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.
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.
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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.
Diego Ortega, former sanctions regulations adviser at the Office of Foreign Assets Control, has joined Faegre Drinker as a government and regulatory counsel, the firm announced. Ortega worked for over three years at OFAC, where he drafted and published regulations implementing U.S. sanctions authorities and general licenses.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three entities and one person it said are involved in the development and production of Russia’s Garpiya series long-range attack drones, which Moscow uses in its war against Ukraine.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Oct. 17 removed sanctions from Atlas Doviz Ticaret A.S., a Turkish firm it originally sanctioned in 2019 for being used to provide foreign currency exchange services to Iran’s Ansar Bank and its currency exchange arm. OFAC didn’t release more information.
Vietnam Beverage Company Limited reached an $860,000 settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control after the agency said two of the company’s subsidiaries violated U.S. sanctions against North Korea. OFAC said the subsidiaries, which produce and sell alcoholic drinks, illegally received more than $1.4 million in payments through U.S. banks for sales of alcohol to North Korea.
Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., and Maria Salazar, R-Fla., introduced a bill Oct. 15 that would prohibit U.S. firms from doing certain business with Venezuela’s energy sector, including its state-owned oil company, until President Nicolas Maduro concedes he lost the July 28 election.