New U.S. guidance for the ocean shipping industry outlines several example scenarios of foreign shipowners, shipping companies, tanker vessels and others looking to evade sanctions. The guidance, issued Oct. 31 by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, is designed to help ocean shipping industry officials recognize new or common “fact patterns that may be indicative of sanctions evasion,” OFAC said, or help them address common due diligence issues while trying to comply with U.S. sanctions.
The U.S. this week unveiled new trade and financial restrictions against people and companies across more than 17 countries for helping Russia evade sanctions or for supporting the country’s military, adding nearly 400 to the Treasury Department’s sanctions list and more than 40 to the Commerce Department’s Entity List. Another move by Commerce will tighten existing controls on nearly 50 entities that it said are procuring U.S.-branded microelectronics for Russia.
Brian Assi, a Middle East-based salesman of a heavy machinery manufacturer, was convicted last week of violating sanctions against Iran after he tried to export U.S.-made drills to Iran without licenses from the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Mirghani Idris Suleiman for helping to procure weapons for the Sudanese Armed Forces, which is warring with the Rapid Support Forces and causing violence that has led to a humanitarian and human rights crisis in the country. OFAC said Suleiman serves as the director general of Defense Industries System, the SAF’s primary weapons production and procurement arm. OFAC sanctioned the procurement director for the Rapid Support Forces earlier this month (see 2410080018).
While the Biden and Trump administrations both frequently imposed financial sanctions and export controls on China, the Biden administration has made greater use of two key tools: the Treasury Department’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List and the Commerce Department’s Entity List. That's according to a new report by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issued an alert Oct. 23 to help financial institutions uncover illegal activity by Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization based in Lebanon.
An indictment was unsealed on Oct. 22 charging Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps brigadier general Ruhollah Bazghandi and members of his network with sanctions evasion, among other charges, in their efforts to murder a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin in New York City, DOJ announced.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Oct. 23 removed Ukrainian citizen Olena Yurevna Semenova from its Specially Designated Nationals List. Semenova was designated in 2015 as part of an effort to counter Russia-related sanctions evasion. The agency didn’t provide more information, and a Treasury Department spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Lorena Valente, former sanctions compliance section chief at the Office of Foreign Assets Control, was named the agency’s new assistant director for licensing, she announced on LinkedIn. Valente has been at the Treasury Department since 2022.
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