The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three senior Nicaragua officials for supporting President Daniel Ortega’s regime. The sanctions target Marvin Ramiro Aguilar Garcia, the vice president of the Nicaraguan Supreme Court of Justice; Walmaro Antonio Gutierrez Mercado, a deputy of the National Assembly; and Fidel De Jesus Dominguez Alvarez, chief of the Nicaraguan National Police in Leon, OFAC said Dec. 21. OFAC said all three support the Ortega regime’s effort to “undermine Nicaragua’s democracy.”
OFAC sanction activity
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three entities controlled by the Cuban military for evading U.S. sanctions, OFAC said Dec. 21. Grupo de Administracion Empresarial S.A. (GAESA), and its subsidiaries Financiera Cimex S.A. (Fincimex) and Kave Coffee, S.A., use their “Panamanian incorporation to subvert international trade restrictions,” OFAC said. GAESA uses businesses in Panama to “bypass” U.S. Cuban Assets Control Regulations, while Fincimex operates as a financial investment and remittance company and Kave operates the country’s nationalized Cubita coffee brand, OFAC said. GAESA and Fincimex are also listed on the State Department’s Cuba Restricted List (see 2009280008).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned a Venezeulan biometric technology company and its directors for supporting the Nicolas Maduro regime, OFAC said Dec. 18. The sanctions target Ex-Cle Soluciones Biometricas C.A. and co-directors Guillermo Carlos San Agustin and Marcos Javier Machado Requena. OFAC said the company provides “management solutions” to Venezuela government entities and serves as an “electoral hardware and software vendor” to agencies under the Maduro regime.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two senior Iranian intelligence officials involved in the 2007 abduction of a U.S. law enforcement agent, OFAC said Dec. 14. The sanctions target Mohammad Baseri and Ahmad Khazai, officials at Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security, for the abduction of Robert Levinson, a retired FBI agent at the time who was working as a private investigator.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned three people and three entities in Africa and Asia for corruption, a Dec. 9 news release said. The designations were made as part of International Anti-Corruption Day and imposed sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
The incoming Joe Biden administration is planning a “top-to-bottom review” of sanctions operations, programs, budgets and staffing levels at the Treasury Department, Bloomberg reported Dec. 8. It said Adewale Adeyemo, Biden’s pick for deputy treasury secretary, will lead the review. Adeyemo will address “staffing issues” and consider increasing the budget for the Terrorism and Financial Intelligence unit, which oversees the Office of Foreign Assets Control. A Biden transition team spokesperson didn’t comment. OFAC lost a record number of employees last year, which has led to longer processing times and an influx of inexperienced officials (see 2010290028).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control issued two sets of sanctions, one targeting Iran’s military, the other shipping companies transporting North Korean coal. The Dec. 8 announcements target two people, seven entities and four vessels.
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The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Dec. 7 issued two new frequently asked questions and updated four additional FAQs related to a January executive order that expanded U.S. sanctions authority against Iran (see 2001100050). The two new FAQs clarify whether transactions related to international organizations and Iran’s participation in international legal proceedings are subject to secondary sanctions.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Shahid Meisami Group and its director, Mehran Babri, for their involvement in Iranian chemical weapons research, OFAC said Dec. 3. The agency said Shahid Meisami Group works under the U.S.-sanctioned Iranian Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, known as SPND, and is responsible for “numerous” government projects, including the production of chemical agents. The U.S. says SPND works on the Iranian regime’s proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.