OFAC Redesignates Paraguayan Tobacco Company After Owner Change
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Paraguayan tobacco company Tabacalera del Este S.A. for financially supporting former Paraguayan President Horacio Manuel Cartes Jara, sanctioned by OFAC last year for corruption (see 2301260073). The agency previously added Tabacalera del Este to its Specially Designated Nationals List for being owned by Cartes (see 2303310033), but Cartes has since sold the company, OFAC said, so the agency is now designating it under a 2017 executive order that authorizes Global Magnitsky sanctions for serious human rights abuses and corruption.
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Even though Cartes no longer owns the company, OFAC said Tabesa has made and plans to make millions of dollars worth of payments to Cartes. The agency added that a general license it issued in April 2023 that authorizes certain transactions with the company remains in effect.