The Office of Foreign Assets Control took a number of significant sanctions actions over the last week across multiple programs:
Russia-related Sanctions
- OFAC Sanctions Individuals and Entities Supporting Russian Regime’s Influence Campaign Efforts: OFAC on March 20 designated two individuals and two entities for services they provided the Russian government in connection with a foreign malign influence campaign, including attempting to impersonate legitimate media outlets. OFAC designated Ilya Andreevich Gambashidze, the founder of the Moscow-based company Social Design Agency and Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tupikin, the CEO and current owner of Russia-based Company Group Structura LLC for their roles in a persistent foreign malign influence campaign at the direction of the Russian Presidential Administration. This action follows prior OFAC actions that have highlighted and disrupted Russia’s global malign influence campaigns. Read more.
Iran-related Sanctions
- OFAC Targets Procurement Networks for Supporting Iranian Regime: OFAC on March 20 designated three procurement networks –– in Iran, Türkiye, Oman, and Germany –– that have supported Iran’s ballistic missile, nuclear, and defense programs. These networks have procured carbon fiber, epoxy resins, and other missile-applicable goods for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Self Sufficiency Jihad Organization, Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics, other U.S.-designated entities in Iran’s defense industrial base, and Iran Centrifuge Technology Company, which is linked to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. Read more.
Illicit Drug-related Sanctions
- OFAC Sanctions Network Operating Multi-Million Dollar Black Market Scheme: OFAC on March 22 sanctioned operatives in a Black Market Peso Exchange (BMPE) scheme to launder millions in illicit fentanyl proceeds for the Sinaloa Cartel. OFAC designated 15 Sinaloa Cartel members—several of whom are fugitives—and six Mexico-based businesses pursuant to Executive Order 14059. The Sinaloa Cartel, which is one of the most notorious and pervasive drug trafficking organizations in the world, is responsible for a significant portion of the illicit fentanyl and other deadly drugs trafficked into the United States. Read more.
Nicaragua-related Sanction
- OFAC Sanctions Nicaraguan Attorney General: OFAC on March 21 sanctioned Wendy Carolina Morales Urbina, Nicaragua’s Attorney General, for being complicit in the Ortega-Murillo regime’s oppression. Morales is sanctioned pursuant to Executive Order 13851, as amended, which targets key actors in the Nicaraguan regime’s unjust persecution of political prisoners and civil society within the country. OFAC’s action prohibits transactions with the designee and freezes any assets she may have under U.S. jurisdiction. Read more.
