The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Integrity Technology Group, Inc., a Beijing cybersecurity company that it said has been involved in multiple cyberattacks against U.S. people or companies.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control was one of multiple Treasury Department offices recently breached by Chinese government hackers, the Washington Post reported this week. Treasury reportedly disclosed the hack in a Dec. 30 letter to lawmakers, saying that it was still assessing the impact. The agency added that the documents accessed were unclassified and there was no evidence the hacker still has access to Treasury systems.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Russian Judge Olesya Mendeleeva for her involvement in the “arbitrary detention” of Moscow city councilor and human rights advocate Alexei Gorinov, who was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2022 for opposing Russia’s war against Ukraine. OFAC said Mendeleeva is known for giving “long and harsh sentences” and convicted Gorinov of “knowingly disseminating false information about the Russian military," the first judge in Russia to find a defendant guilty for such a charge.
The U.S. this week sanctioned the Cognitive Design Production Center, a subsidiary of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and the Moscow-based Center for Geopolitical Expertise, an entity tied to the Russian government, for interfering in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. The Office of Foreign Assets Control said the Cognitive Design Production Center planned influence operations to “incite socio-political tensions” among the U.S. electors in the lead-up to the elections, and the Center for Geopolitical Expertise helped create and circulate deepfakes and disinformation about candidates in the general election. OFAC also sanctioned Valery Mikhaylovich Korovin, the organization’s director.
A New York-based aviation parts supplier will pay $22,172 to the Office of Foreign Assets Control to settle Russia-related sanctions violations it allegedly committed in early 2024. The company, SkyGeek Logistics, made shipments and attempted refunds to two United Arab Emirates companies that had been sanctioned for supplying equipment and technology to Russia, OFAC said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Dec. 30 released quarterly reports on certain licensing activities for Iran and Sudan, covering the period from October 2022 through September 2024. The reports provide licensing statistics for exports of agricultural goods, medicine and medical devices to both countries as required by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000.
The U.S. on Dec. 27 sanctioned Bidzina Ivanishvili, a Georgian oligarch and former Georgian prime minister. The State Department said Ivanishvili was sanctioned for "undermining the democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of Georgia for the benefit of" Russia, and he has also contributed to human rights abuses in the country.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued another reminder for users of its website to fill out a survey (see 2410110053) that will give OFAC feedback on how it can streamline the site’s navigation and improve its “sanctions guidance, resource accessibility, and user experience.” The survey closes Dec. 30.
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David Rivera, a former Republican member of Congress from Florida, was charged this week with violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act after he allegedly failed to report receiving millions of dollars in exchange for lobbying the Trump administration to remove sanctions on a Venezuelan businessman.