A German software company agreed to pay more than $8 million in fines after it admitted to violating U.S. export controls and sanctions against Iran, the Justice, Treasury and Commerce departments announced April 29. The company, SAP SE, came to settlement agreements with all three agencies after it voluntarily disclosed the violations, which included illegal exports and reexports of U.S.-origin software.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 26 sanctioned one current and one former Guatemalan official for corruption. The designations target Gustavo Adolfo Alejos Cambara, the former chief of staff for the Alvaro Colom presidential administration, and Felipe Alejos Lorenzana, an elected delegate to Guatemala’s Congress.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control amended its Somalia Sanctions Regulations and reissued them “in their entirety” to provide more guidance, general licenses and statements of licensing policy. The regulations outline new provisions surrounding blocked property, sanctions evasion attempts and new definitions to help industry comply with the sanctions. The new and revised general licenses authorize a range of activities, including certain investments, transactions related to legal payments and certain activities by the U.S. government. The new regulations take effect April 28.
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The U.S. government seized an oil tanker for delivering petroleum products to North Korea in violation of U.S. sanctions and charged a Singaporean national with conspiracy to evade sanctions, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said in an April 23 news release. Kwek Kee Seng of Singapore and the ship, the M/T Courageous, allegedly brought oil to North Korea via ship-to-ship transfers with North Korean ships and direct shipments to the North Korean port of Nampo. The transfers allegedly took place August-December 2019 when the ship stopped transmitting its location. DOJ said satellite imagery revealed the Courageous engaging in the ship-to-ship transfers of more than $1.5 million worth of oil to an OFAC-designated North Korean ship.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 21 sanctioned two Myanmar state-owned entities that are “key economic resources” for the Myanmar military. The designations target Myanmar Timber Enterprise (MTE) and Myanmar Pearl Enterprise (MPE), which are responsible for timber and pearl exports from Myanmar, OFAC said. OFAC also deleted 15 Panama-related entries on its Specially Designated Nationals List. The agency didn’t provide more information on the deletions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control will revoke a Belarus-related general license that authorizes certain transactions with nine sanctioned state-owned entities, OFAC and the State Department said April 19. OFAC issued Belarus General License 2H, replacing License 2G (see 1910220027), which authorizes a 45-day wind-down period for transactions with those entities and any entities in which they own at least 50%. The wind-down period will end 12:01 a.m. June 3.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined an Oklahoma steel manufacturer about $435,000 for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, OFAC said April 19. Alliance Steel committed 61 sanctions violation by maintaining a “business relationship” with an Iranian company for five years, OFAC said.
President Joe Biden signed a sweeping executive order authorizing new sanctions against Russia, allowing the U.S. to designate people and companies operating in Russia’s defense and technology sectors or involved in attempts to influence foreign elections. The order, announced April 15, also authorizes sanctions against a range of Russian government officials and their associates as well as people and companies involved in Russian corruption, actions to “undermine democratic processes,” and human rights violations and transactions designed to circumvent U.S. sanctions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control added one person to its Specially Designated Nationals List and removed two others, an April 13 notice said. The agency added Audias Flores Silva, a regional commander for the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, a Mexican drug cartel, OFAC said April 14. The agency also deleted entries for Juan de la Cruz, the director of the Banco Nacional de Cuba, and Jose Gutierrez Reyes, who is listed with an address in Mexico. OFAC did not provide further information on the SDN deletions.