To enhance U.S. and allied restrictions on dual-use exports, the Biden administration’s FY 2025 budget request, unveiled March 11, would provide $223 million for the Bureau of Industry and Security, up 17%, or $32 million, from the FY 2024 enacted level of $191 million, the Commerce Department said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week amended and reissued its Global Magnitsky Sanctions Regulations, which now include a “more comprehensive set” of regulations with updated guidance, definitions, general licenses and other provisions meant to “provide further guidance to the public.” The changes, outlined in a final rule effective March 12, replace the regulations that OFAC published in “abbreviated form” in 2018.
The U.S. this week sanctioned 16 entities and people that are part of an “expansive business network” that raises and launders money for al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida linked terrorist group. The designations target business people in Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Cyprus and Finland who have helped fund the terror group, which has allowed it to kill “thousands of innocent civilians,” the agency said.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is drafting a rule that could harmonize its export controls with some parties subject to the Treasury Department’s financial blocking sanctions. BIS completed a round of interagency review March 7 for the final rule, which would impose export restrictions, including end-user controls, on “certain persons identified” on Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List.
DOJ officials said they have seen a rise in voluntary self-disclosures in recent months, including for possible violations of export controls and sanctions. They also stressed that the agency is continuing to double down on its enforcement resources, including by hiring more prosecutors and starting a new whistleblower initiative to better incentivize tips about corporate wrongdoing.
Switzerland sanctioned six people and one entity on March 4 for their role in threatening the sovereignty of Moldova, following an EU action listing the same parties. The listed entity is Scutul Poporului, the paramilitary group accused of destabilizing Moldova through violent protests. The individuals are Russian intelligence officers, leaders of Scutul Poporului, Moldovan media executives and political figures.
The German Federal Prosecutor's Office filed charges last month against a German national and a Russian national for illicitly exporting drone parts to Russia, the office announced March 5, according to an unofficial translation.
Canada last week announced a new set of Iran designations, targeting two Iranian officials involved in implementing policies that violate human rights, “particularly against women and girls of women and girls.” The country said the chief executive of the Tehran metro system, Masoud Dorosti, enforces a mandatory hijab law on public transit, while a senior parliamentarian, Zohreh Elahian, has supported the death penalty for protesters who advocate for women’s rights. “These two individuals have used their positions of influence to call for or carry out increasingly repressive measures against women and girls in Iran,” Canada said.
U.S. Army solider and intelligence analyst Korbein Schultz was arrested March 7 on charges of exporting defense-related technical data without a license and conspiracy to export defense articles, DOJ announced. A federal grand jury also indicted him on a charge of conspiracy to obtain national defense information and bribery of a public official.
Four House Republican Cuban-Americans urged the Biden administration March 8 to retain Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, saying the label and its accompanying sanctions remain warranted.