The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 13 entities and two people with ties to Russia’s financial services and technology industries for offering services to evade U.S. sanctions. OFAC said many of the companies operate blockchain-based services that allow virtual currency payments in Russia’s financial sector, “thus enabling potential sanctions evasion.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Wendy Carolina Morales Urbina, Nicaragua’s attorney general, for her ties to corruption as part of President Daniel Ortega’s government. OFAC said she has helped the government “steal” real property from independent media outlets, international organizations and political prisoners, under law “explicitly to suppress freedom of association.” Morales Urbina does this by giving existing property deeds to new owners declaring properties as “now being made for public use,” the agency said.
The U.S. sanctioned two Russian companies and their leaders for helping the country’s government carry out a “foreign malign influence campaign,” including by impersonating government organizations and European media outlets.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned various people and companies that are part of procurement networks in Iran, Turkey, Oman and Germany that have supported Iran’s ballistic missile, nuclear and defense programs. OFAC said the networks have helped ship carbon fiber, epoxy resins and other “missile-applicable goods” for Iran’s military and other entities in the country’s defense industrial base.
The Bureau of Industry and Security is adding new export license requirements for people and entities designated under certain Treasury Department sanctions programs, a move it said will strengthen U.S. financial blocking measures and act as a “backstop” for activities that those restrictions don’t cover.
The D.C. U.S. District Court on March 11 dismissed a lawsuit from a senior Democratic Republic of Congo elections official challenging his sanctions designation, saying the listing wasn't "arbitrary or capricious" and that due process laws weren't violated.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Marshall Islands-registered shipping company Vishnu Inc. and its ship, the Lady Sofia, for their involvement in illegally shipping Iranian commodities to China. OFAC said the vessel recently transferred cargo while at sea to another sanctioned ship, the Mehle, which is currently traveling to China with the Iranian goods.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Diego Macedo Goncalves do Carmo, a money launderer for the “most notorious” crime group in Brazil. OFAC said Goncalves has laundered hundreds of millions of dollars for Brazil-based Primeiro Comando da Capital, which the agency designated in 2021.
A Swiss private banking group agreed to pay about $3.7 million to settle allegations that it violated multiple U.S. sanctions programs, including restrictions against Russia and Cuba. The Office of Foreign Assets Control said EFG International AG, which operates about 40 global subsidiaries, bought and sold securities on behalf of people sanctioned by OFAC.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on March 13 sanctioned three people in the Bosnian Serb Republic for helping Serb Republic President Milorad Dodik undermine the “peace and stability” of Bosnia and Herzegovina. OFAC said the three people “facilitated Dodik’s efforts to undermine” the Dayton Peace Agreement, the 1995 accords that ended the yearslong Bosnian War, and the “authority” of the Bosnian Constitutional Court.