The Office of Foreign Assets Control on May 3 removed several Russia-related entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List, including Malta- and Russia-based aircraft management company Emperor Aviation Ltd., which was designated in 2022 for providing luxury travel to a Russian government official (see 2211140018). OFAC also removed several aircraft owned by Emperor Aviation from the SDN List.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned five people, along with their companies, for helping Hezbollah money exchanger Hassan Moukalled evade sanctions and support the terrorist group, the agency said this week. OFAC said the individuals include two co-founders of CTEX Exchange, the company owned by Moukalled, along with his business consultant.
Trade lawyers said that recent legislation expanding the statute of limitations on sanctions violations from five to 10 years comes with clear expectations: costlier and longer sanctions investigations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 29 renewed an authorization for certain Russia-related energy transactions. General License 8I, which replaced GL 8H, authorizes certain transactions with several Russian energy companies through 12:01 a.m. EDT Nov. 1. The license was previously scheduled to expire May 1 (see 2310250012).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 26 deleted two Russia-related entries on its Specially Designated Nationals List: Ice Pearl Navigation Corp. and crude oil tanker Yasa Golden Bosphorus. OFAC sanctioned both in 2023 for transporting Russian oil sold above the global price cap set by the U.S. and its allies (see 2310120029). The agency didn’t say why it removed the designations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is sanctioning 16 entities, eight people, five vessels and one aircraft for their involvement in the Iranian military’s drone trade, the agency announced April 25.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 23 sanctioned two leaders of al-Qa’ida-aligned terrorist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) for the hostage-taking of U.S. persons in West Africa. The designations target Sidan ag Hitta of Mali and Jafar Dicko of Burkina Faso. Concurrently, the State Department sanctioned five JNIM leaders, as well as two al-Murabitoun leaders, for hostage taking of U.S. nationals.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 23 sanctioned two companies and four people for their roles in malicious cyber activity against more than a dozen U.S. companies and government entities on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber Electronic Command (IRGC-CEC).
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on April 19 partially dismissed a lawsuit from sanctioned individuals Mir Rahman Rahmani and Hafi Ajmal Rahmani and over two dozen of their companies challenging their sanctions listing for their alleged role in a corruption scheme that swiped millions of dollars from U.S. contracts in Afghanistan (Mir Rahman Rahmani v. Janet Yellen, D.D.C. # 24-00285).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 19 sanctioned two entities for raising funds for two Israelis who were sanctioned in February for attacking West Bank Palestinians (see 2402010053).