The House approved by voice vote late July 21 a bill aimed at improving the investigative capabilities of the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two people and five entities involved in money laundering and importing petroleum products into territory controlled by Houthis, the group designated by the U.S. as a foreign terrorist organization in March (see 2503040008). The designations target a network across Yemen and the United Arab Emirates for being “among the most significant importers” of petroleum products and money launderers for the Houthis.
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.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned six key leaders and affiliates of Tren de Aragua, the Venezuela-based criminal group that the U.S. labeled a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and Foreign Terrorist Organization in February (see 2502200019 and 2502200019). The designations target Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, also known as Nino Guerrero, the head of Tren de Aragua, along with co-founder Yohan Jose Romero and senior officials Josue Angel Santana Pena, Wilmer Jose Perez Castillo and Felix Anner Castillo Rondon. OFAC also sanctioned Guerrero Flores' wife, Wendy Marbelys Rios Gomez, for her ties to money laundering, terrorism and terrorist financing, the agency said, adding that it believes she has "enriched herself through profits" from Tren de Aragua.
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.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a Connecticut-based online investment broker $11,832,136 to settle alleged violations of multiple U.S. sanctions programs, saying the company illegally provided services to sanctioned people and restricted countries, and it processed trades in securities of blocked Chinese military companies.
James Treanor, former attorney-adviser in the Office of Foreign Assets Control's chief counsel's office, has joined Akin as a senior counsel, he announced on LinkedIn. Treanor will help clients with international trade and national security-related regulatory and enforcement issues, including those related to sanctions and export controls. He left OFAC in June.
The Russian grantor of a blocked U.S.-based trust company is suing the Office of Foreign Assets Control, saying OFAC falsely accused the trust of being used to help a Russian oligarch evade sanctions. Kuncha Kerimova, the grantor, said the trust was designed to share her wealth with her grandchildren and other descendants, not to aid designated Russian billionaire Suleiman Kerimov.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control removed a range of Iran-, Iraq- and Syria-related entries from its Specifically Designated Nationals List this week, including former Iraqi Trade Minister Muhammad Mahdi Salih; Syria-based Al-Ra'y Satellite Television Channel; and Swedish Management Co., which was originally designated for moving Iranian petrochemical products, and several of its vessels. OFAC didn't release more information about the removals.
The U.S. this week sanctioned U.N. official Francesca Paola Albanese for working with the International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute U.S. or Israeli nationals with ties to alleged human rights abuses being carried out by Israel against Palestinians. The State Department said Albanese is aiding with that investigatory work "without the consent of" the U.S. and Israel. Neither country is a party to the Rome Statute -- the treaty that established the ICC -- "making this action a gross infringement on the sovereignty of both countries," the State Department said.