The U.S. has little room to expand sanctions against Hamas, but it could look to track down and designate additional front companies the terror group uses to fund its activities, said Jason Prince, former chief counsel at the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Although OFAC has general licenses in place to authorize a broad range of humanitarian-related transactions involving Palestine, Hamas’ designation as a foreign terrorist organization could make some financial institutions less willing to approve those aid-related transactions, Prince said.
If the Treasury Department doesn't clarify the due-diligence steps that will be required of dealmakers under the agency’s upcoming outbound investment prohibitions, the Biden administration risks chilling a broad range of U.S ventures in China and incentivizing foreign companies to seek funds elsewhere, law firms and industry associations said in comments to the agency.
Farhad Nafeiy, a California-based telecommunications consultant, pleaded guilty this week to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act after he breached the scope of sanctions licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The U.S. this week sanctioned a China-based network of companies and people involved in manufacturing and distributing “ton quantities” of fentanyl, methamphetamine and MDMA precursors. The designations also target two entities and one person based in Canada.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two entities and one person for “undermining the peace, security, and stability” of Sudan.
Licensing work at sanctions and export control agencies likely will grind to a near halt in the event of a federal government shutdown Oct. 1, though enforcement activities at the Bureau of Industry and Security, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls and Office of Foreign Assets Control will continue -- if previous shutdowns are any guide.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week deleted four entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List and updated six others. The entries are linked to either Russia or Myanmar. One entry, Russia-based Joint Stock Company Star, had been listed on the SDN List under two separate sanctions authorities, and the agency's move this week merged those two listings together, an OFAC spokesperson said Sept. 27. The agency didn't provide more information on why it deleted the other entries.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two people and five entities based in Iran, China, Hong Kong, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates for their involvement in procuring sensitive parts for Iran unmanned aerial vehicle program. OFAC said the network has specifically facilitated shipments and financial transactions for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization’s procurement of servomotors, a “critical component” used in Iran’s Shahed-series UAVs. The agency said Iran has been supplying the Shahed-136 UAVs to Russia for its war in Ukraine.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 10 people, nine of which are “Sinaloa Cartel affiliates and fugitives” responsible for “fentanyl and other illicit drug trafficking,” the Treasury Department said in a Sept. 26 news release. Those nine people are Jorge Humberto Figueroa Benitez, Leobardo Garcia Corrales, Martin Garcia Corrales, Liborio Nunez Aguirre, Samuel Leon Alvarado, Carlos Mario Limon Vazquez, Jimenez Castro, Dominguez Hernandez, and Vibanco Garcia. The tenth sanctioned person is Jobanis de Jesus Avila Villadiego, a Colombian national and leader of the Clan del Golfo, which supplies cocaine to major drug trafficking organizations, including the Sinaloa Cartel.
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