The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Lebanese brothers Raymond Zina Rahme and Teddy Zina Rahme, along with their companies, for corruption and other activities that “contribute to the breakdown of the rule of law in Lebanon.” OFAC said the brothers use United Arab Emirates-based ZR Energy DMCC and Lebanon-based ZR Group Holding SAL and ZR Logistics SAL to win government contracts through a “highly opaque public tendering process.”
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 3 migrated its website to a new domain and launched a redesign of the site, featuring a new “streamlined” landing page, an “enhanced” frequently asked questions search tool, a filter for its sanctions program search and more. The agency said it plans to make “continued improvements to its site in the months and years ahead” and encouraged users to submit feedback by emailing O_F_A_C@treasury.gov.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week sanctioned Tabacalera del Este, a Paraguay-based cigarette manufacturer, and issued a new general license authorizing certain transactions with the company. OFAC said Tabacalera is owned 50% or more by former Paraguayan President Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara, who was sanctioned by the agency in January for corruption, along with another of his companies, Tabacos USA (see 2301260073).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on March 31 fined a California money services firm just over $72,000 for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. OFAC said Uphold HQ, a global digital trading platform, failed to screen transactions for customers located in Iran or Cuba and for employees of a sanctioned Venezuelan energy company, resulting in 152 transactions worth more than $180,000.
The U.S. last week fined Wells Fargo nearly $100 million for allegedly breaching U.S. sanctions against Iran, Syria and Sudan, violations that stemmed from its "unsafe or unsound" sanctions compliance practices. The bank was fined $30 million by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control and $67.8 million by the Federal Reserve after OFAC said Wells Fargo's subsidiary allowed a European bank to use its trade finance platform to process more than $500 million in sanctioned transactions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Slovakian national Ashot Mkrtychev for trying to facilitate arms deals between Russia and North Korea. Mkrtychev worked with North Korean officials, including as recently as this year, to “obtain” more than two dozen kinds of weapons and munitions for Russia in exchange for commercial aircraft, raw materials and other commodities, OFAC said. The agency said Mkrtychev negotiated a “mutually beneficial cooperation” agreement between North Korea and Russia “to include financial payments and barter arrangements,” and “confirmed Russia’s readiness to receive military equipment from [North Korea] with senior Russian officials.”
The U.S. and the U.K. this week announced sanctions against people and entities in Syria and Lebanon supporting the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria and the production and export of Captagon, a “dangerous amphetamine,” the Office of Foreign Assets Control said.
The U.S. last week sanctioned two people and six entities linked to Myanmar’s military regime and issued a new alert to warn companies about the risks of providing jet fuel to the country’s military.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week issued new sanctions against three entities, nine people and one aircraft in Belarus for the country's suppression of pro-democracy protests following its "fraudulent" 2020 presidential elections.