The banking industry’s increasing overcompliance with U.S. sanctions is leading to an uptick in unnecessary financing delays and transaction cancellations, nongovernmental organizations told the Treasury Department. They said the issues are causing hurdles for humanitarian groups trying to deliver aid abroad and raising discrimination concerns among foreigners living in the U.S.

Behrouz Mokhtari of McLean, Virginia, and Tehran pleaded guilty Jan. 9 to two conspiracies to violate U.S. sanctions on Iran "by engaging in business activities on behalf of Iranian entities" without getting a license from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, DOJ announced Jan. 9. Mokhtari will forfeit money, property and assets obtained from the schemes, including a Campbell, California, home, and a money judgment of over $2.8 million, DOJ said. The defendant faces a maximum of five years in prison for each of the two conspiracy counts.