The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned two members of the Russian “hacktivist group” Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, Yuliya Vladimirovna Pankratova and Denis Olegovich Degtyarenko, for cyberattacks against U.S. critical infrastructure. OFAC said Pankratova is the group's leader and Degtyarenko is its primary hacker, and they have helped the group conduct cyberattacks against Ukraine and governments and companies supporting Ukraine.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is updating its license application process and portal to alert applicants where their application is in the agency’s “processing timeline,” OFAC said July 18. After submitting an application, the applicant will now start receiving one of 10 “case statuses” as their application is reviewed:
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned more people and vessels across Asia and the Middle East for their roles in aiding the Yemen-based Houthis through illegal shipping and financing networks. OFAC said the designations specifically target people with ties to Houthi financier Sa’id al-Jamal see (see 2406170026, 2312280012, 2401120015 and 2403260016).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week updated an entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List for Aviad Shlomo Sarid, a leader of the group Tzav 9, an Israeli extremist group that the U.S. sanctioned in June for blocking aid to Gaza (see 2407110018 and 2406170030). The update revises identifying information for Sarid.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned three accountants and four companies linked to a timeshare fraud led by the Mexico-based Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion. OFAC, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and the FBI also issued a joint alert urging financial institutions to submit suspicious activity reports to FinCEN about transactions that may be tied to timeshare fraud in Mexico, along with several red flags to monitor.
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week released another video in its ongoing effort to provide guidance on U.S. sanctions programs and rules. The latest episode, released July 12, features guidance on “what it means when funds are blocked in connection with OFAC sanctions, as well as recommended steps for what to do if your funds have been blocked.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed a Russia-related general license that authorizes certain transactions involving the Russian Federation's Central Bank, Wealth Fund and Ministry of Finance. General License No. 13J which replaced 13I, now authorizes those transactions, including taxes, fees, or import duties, through 12:01 a.m. EDT Oct. 9. The license was set to expire July 11.
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control deleted two Russia-related entries from its Specially Designation Nationals List. The agency removed Marina Igorevna Tsareva, who was sanctioned in 2018 for helping to procure underwater equipment and diving systems for Russian government agencies, and Alexey Valeryevich Panferov, who OFAC had sanctioned in 2022 as part of a tranche of designations targeting Russia's defense industrial base. An agency spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about why OFAC removed both from the SDN List.