The U.S., the U.K. and Australia this week sanctioned Russian national Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev, a leader of the Russia-based LockBit ransomware group, which the Office of Foreign Assets Control labeled “one of the most active ransomware groups in the world.”
OFAC sanction activity
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week removed the Swiss branch of Russia-headquartered bank Sberbank from the agency’s Sectoral Sanctions Identifications List, which lists entities operating in certain sanctioned sectors of the Russian economy. OFAC didn’t release more information.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week launched its new Sanctions List Service, an application the agency will use to issue sanctions list files and data to the public. OFAC said the SLS “provides users with easy access to the most up-to-date Sanctions Lists and Sanctions list data,” including from the Specially Designated Nationals List or the Consolidated non-SDNs List, “ready for immediate download.” Users also can search for sanctions entries on the SDN Lists and other lists maintained by OFAC.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on May 3 removed several Russia-related entries from its Specially Designated Nationals List, including Malta- and Russia-based aircraft management company Emperor Aviation Ltd., which was designated in 2022 for providing luxury travel to a Russian government official (see 2211140018). OFAC also removed several aircraft owned by Emperor Aviation from the SDN List.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned five people, along with their companies, for helping Hezbollah money exchanger Hassan Moukalled evade sanctions and support the terrorist group, the agency said this week. OFAC said the individuals include two co-founders of CTEX Exchange, the company owned by Moukalled, along with his business consultant.
Trade lawyers said that recent legislation expanding the statute of limitations on sanctions violations from five to 10 years comes with clear expectations: costlier and longer sanctions investigations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 26 deleted two Russia-related entries on its Specially Designated Nationals List: Ice Pearl Navigation Corp. and crude oil tanker Yasa Golden Bosphorus. OFAC sanctioned both in 2023 for transporting Russian oil sold above the global price cap set by the U.S. and its allies (see 2310120029). The agency didn’t say why it removed the designations.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control is sanctioning 16 entities, eight people, five vessels and one aircraft for their involvement in the Iranian military’s drone trade, the agency announced April 25.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on April 19 partially dismissed a lawsuit from sanctioned individuals Mir Rahman Rahmani and Hafi Ajmal Rahmani and over two dozen of their companies challenging their sanctions listing for their alleged role in a corruption scheme that swiped millions of dollars from U.S. contracts in Afghanistan (Mir Rahman Rahmani v. Janet Yellen, D.D.C. # 24-00285).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on April 23 sanctioned two leaders of al-Qa’ida-aligned terrorist group Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM) for the hostage-taking of U.S. persons in West Africa. The designations target Sidan ag Hitta of Mali and Jafar Dicko of Burkina Faso. Concurrently, the State Department sanctioned five JNIM leaders, as well as two al-Murabitoun leaders, for hostage taking of U.S. nationals.