OFAC Sanctions People, Entities for Terrorism Support
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned seven individuals and three entities that move money in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, because they were supporting terrorism and serving as “financial facilitators” for ISIS, according to an April 15 press release from OFAC. Six of the individuals and one of the entities are part of the Rawi Network, which, the U.S. says, helped ISIS government officials launder the money from selling Iraqi oil when they controlled territory there, as well as distributing donations to ISIS through an informal money transfer system known as hawala.
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The seventh individual is a “financial facilitator” who “played an important role” in an ISIS network in East Africa, OFAC said. All seven individuals were placed on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List for “assisting in, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, ISIS,” OFAC said. The three sanctioned entities are Al-Ard Al-Jadidah Money Exchange Company, IRGC Ground Forces and the IRGC Navy, according to an OFAC enforcement notice. The latter two are designated foreign terrorist organizations.
In the notice, OFAC also announced four changes to existing designated entities: Basij Resistance Force, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-Qods Force and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Airforce. The changes added several aliases to each entity.