The Office of Foreign Assets Control has added one individual to its Specially Designated Nationals list, under Democratic Republic of the Congo Sanctions designations, OFAC said (here).
HyperBranch Medical Technology agreed to pay $107,691 as part of a settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control, after HyperBranch allegedly exported thousands of units of sealant to a United Arab Emirates distributor, either knowing or having “reason to know” the goods were headed to Iran, which would violate Iran Sanctions Regulations, OFAC said (here). HyperBranch in 2011 allegedly sent 4,000 units of sealant and 80 samples to its UAE distributor, OFAC said. The company, however, voluntarily self-disclosed the apparent violations, which constitute a “non-egregious” case, OFAC determined. HyperBranch is paying $51,851 less than the statutory minimum for the alleged penalties. Among other things, OFAC considered as mitigating factors the high likelihood the medical end-use products were eligible for a specific license, translating to minimal harm to U.S. sanctions program objectives; and the lack of prior HyperBranch OFAC sanctions history.
Worthington Products and its president, Paul Meeks, will pay a $250,000 civil penalty as part of a settlement agreement between the two and the Bureau of Industry and Security reached after Commerce charged them with conspiracy to export an EAR99-designated item to Iran without proper authorization, BIS said (here). Between approximately May 2009 and November 2011, Worthington and Meeks conspired with others to export a $420,256 waterway barrier debris system, designated as “EAR99” but subject to the Iranian TransactionRegulations, to Iranian government entity Mahab Ghodss, via the United Arab Emirates, without authorization from the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
President Barack Obama’s senior advisers would recommend that he veto a House fiscal 2017 spending bill, partly because it proposes to cut $5 million from the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s current $125 million budget, and would ban use of funds to further transactions involving Cuban government-confiscated property, according to an Office of Management and Budget Statement of Administration Policy released June 21 (here). The $120 million for CPSC proposed in the House Appropriations Committee’s version of the fiscal 2017 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill falls short of Obama’s request by $11 million.
Two men in separate cases pleaded guilty to charges related to breaking Iran sanctions regulations, the Justice Department said June 14 (here) in notices posted on Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security website. Asim Fareed pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide false statements related to illegal goods exports to Iran before a magistrate judge in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. Fareed agreed to ship items bought by Iranian customers from New Jersey to Iran, and to provide false documentation to Commerce for export purposes, according to a press release. No sentencing date has been scheduled. In a New York federal court, Global Metallurgy CEO Erdal Kuyumcu pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, in connection with the export of specialty metals from the U.S. to Iran. Kuyumcu “conspired” to obtain and export from the U.S. to Iran a metallic powder composed of cobalt and nickel without obtaining the required Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) license. The powder can be used for turbine blades, missile production and nuclear applications, among other things. As part of the conspiracy, the 1,000-pound shipment was to go to Turkey before arriving in Iran. Kuyumcu faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued one general license under “Kingpin Act/Honduras” entities and three general licenses under “Kingpin Act/Panama” on June 10, OFAC said (here). General License 1B (here) will allow certain transactions and activities to liquidate and “wind down” Honduran Banco Continental, while General licenses 4B (here), 5A (here) and 6A (here) relax restrictions on previously barred transactions with certain designees. 4B will supersede 4A and authorize transactions involving shipment orders placed before May 5, 2016, with the Kingpin Act-designated Soho Mall Panama and “associated complex,” the general license said. General License 5A supersedes General License 5, and permits exportation and re-exportation of software, hardware and related services -- among other activities -- that are necessary for a Panamanian Government examination of the viability of Balboa Bank & Trust, following the government’s seizure of the institution. Finally, General License 6A authorizes similar goods exports to Panama that are necessary to conduct a government investigation of Balboa Securities’ inventory of assets and liability. OFAC has also updated its four frequently questions asked regarding “Counter Narcotics Sanctions,” the agency said (here).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has added three individuals (here) and removed one entity (here) from its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, OFAC said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has added three individuals to its Specially Designated Nationals list, under Burundi Sanctions designations, OFAC said (here).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has added six entities to, and deleted 10 entities from its Specially Designated Nationals list under Burma designations, OFAC said (here).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is updating its Burma general licenses to continue the authorization of transactions related to trade of goods, technology, or non-financial services; remove the general license requirements for transactions with two financial institutions; and allow some transactions that would enable the “maintenance” of U.S. nationals living in the country, OFAC said (here). The agency has removed Myanma Economic Bank (MEB) and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank (MICB) from its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), and transactions with those entities no longer require a general license, OFAC said. Additionally, OFAC is adding Innwa Bank and Myawaddy Bank to the general license in Section 537.531 of the Burmese Sanctions Regulations, authorizing most transactions with the institutions.