The U.S. sanctioned more than 45 Iranian people and companies for cyberattacks, and designated two Lebanese companies and a Lebanese official for involvement with Hezbollah. The Iranian sanctions target Advanced Persistent Threat 39 and Rana Intelligence Computing Co. as Ministry of Intelligence and Security-owned or -controlled, the Office of Foreign Assets Control said Sept. 17. Rana was involved in a “years-long malware campaign” that targeted Iranian dissidents, journalists and international companies, OFAC said. The Lebanese designations target Lebanon-based Arch Consulting and Meamar Construction, and Sultan Khalifah As’ad, a Hezbollah Executive Council official “closely associated” with both companies, OFAC said.
OFAC sanction activity
The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined a New York telecommunications company and its subsidiary nearly $900,000 for exporting goods and providing services to a sanctioned government entity in Sudan. The company, Comtech Telecommunications Corp., exported warrantied satellite equipment and provided services and training to the Sudan Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA), OFAC said in a Sept. 17 notice. Along with the fine, Comtech said in a settlement agreement it will bolster its sanctions compliance program, including more frequent risk assessments, stricter internal controls and improved employee compliance training.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two Russian nationals involved in the cybertheft of nearly $17 million, it said in a Sept. 16 news release. The designations target Danil Potekhin and Dmitrii Karasavidi for orchestrating a phishing campaign that targeted U.S. citizens and businesses through fake web domains that mimicked “legitimate virtual currency exchanges,” OFAC alleged. When people accessed the domains and entered their personal information, Potekhin and Karasavidi allegedly stole that information and accessed real virtual currency accounts. OFAC said Potekhin and Karasavidi are also the subjects of a Justice Department indictment.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 15 sanctioned a Chinese state-owned entity, the former first lady of Gambia and a United Kingdom-based company for corruption and human rights abuses under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act.
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Two Senate Foreign Relations Committee Democrats urged the Treasury Department to impose updated Russia Magnitsky Act sanctions, saying the administration failed to announce a new round of designations last year. In a Sept. 9 letter, Bob Menendez of New Jersey and Ben Cardin of Maryland said new sanctions are overdue. “[O]ur expectation has been that [the Office of Foreign Assets Control] announces annual designations by the close of each calendar year,” the senators said. “[W]e still do not have the 2019 round of Russia Magnitsky designations from the Administration. To this effect, we urge the release of a robust and credible list of designations immediately.”
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 10 designated a member of the Ukrainian parliament and three employees of the sanctioned Internet Research Agency for helping Russia interfere in U.S. elections. The sanctions target Andrii Derkach, a parliament member said to be a Russian agent who helped create “false and unsubstantiated narratives” about U.S. officials ahead of the 2020 presidential election, OFAC said. The agency also sanctioned IRA employees and Russian nationals Artem Lifshits, Anton Andreyev and Darya Aslanova, who helped support IRA cryptocurrency accounts.
Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas was fined nearly $600,000 for violating the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Ukraine-related sanctions, OFAC said in a Sept. 9 notice. OFAC said the New York bank processed payments for a sanctioned oil company in Cyprus and an investment bank on OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals List. The violations were caused by poor due diligence and an incorrectly calibrated screening tool, OFAC said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control on Sept. 8 sanctioned two former Lebanese government officials for corruption and supporting Hezbollah. The designations target former Lebanese minister of transportation and public works Yusuf Finyanus and former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil. OFAC also added identifying information for Reinaldo Enrique Munoz Pedroza, who was sanctioned Sept. 4 (see 2009040023).
The Office of Foreign Assets Control identified and sanctioned four people who “have facilitated the illegitimate Maduro regime’s efforts to undermine the independence and democratic order of Venezuela,” the Department of the Treasury said in a Sept. 4 news release. “These individuals include David Eugenio De Lima Salas, Reinaldo Enrique Munoz Pedroza, Indira Maira Alfonzo Izaguirre, and Jose Luis Gutierrez Parra,” OFAC said. “Their actions are part of a broader election interference scheme to prevent free and fair parliamentary elections from taking place in December 2020 by restructuring the National Electoral Council and controlling the state’s wealth and assets for regime purposes through the Solicitor General,” OFAC said in the release.