The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week extended a Russia-related general license that authorizes certain transactions for the negotiation of and entry into contingent contracts for the sale of Lukoil International GmbH -- the international business of Russian energy firm Lukoil -- and related maintenance activities. General License 131A, which replaces 131, now expires at 12:01 a.m. ET Jan. 17. The license was scheduled to expire Dec. 13 (see 2511140039).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week removed two Russians from its Specially Designated Nationals List that it had originally sanctioned for either helping to provide Russia with export controlled items or for operating in Russia's technology sector.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned four people and four entities for their roles in recruiting and training former Colombian soldiers to fight for the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces in that country's ongoing civil war.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week announced a $1.092 million settlement with an unnamed former U.S. government official for alleged violations of U.S. sanctions against Russia. The former official, who is also a lawyer, committed the violations while serving as the fiduciary of the family trust of a sanctioned Russian oligarch, OFAC said.
Casey Kirwan, a former senior official at the Office of Foreign Assets Control, left the agency last month to join TD Securities as a senior sanctions manager, he announced on LinkedIn. Kirwan had been with OFAC for nearly six years and was most recently the section chief for cyber and digital assets.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week renewed and revised the language in a general license that authorizes certain transactions involving Lukoil retail service stations located outside Russia.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week announced a $7.1 million penalty against a New York-based property management firm for receiving payments from another company owned by sanctioned Russian oligarch and metals industry magnate Oleg Deripaska. OFAC said the New York company, Gracetown, Inc., failed to report the blocked assets to OFAC for 45 months after the agency notified the firm that the payments risked violating U.S. sanctions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned people and entities associated with Tren de Aragua, a Latin America-based criminal group that the U.S. labeled a Specially Designated Global Terrorist and Foreign Terrorist Organization in February (see 2502190011).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control and Chicago-based private equity firm IPI Partners reached a nearly $11.5 million settlement to resolve accusations that the firm violated sanctions against Russia through its business dealings involving a designated Russian oligarch.
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