The Office of Foreign Assets Control took sanctions actions over the last week in the Russia, Iran, terrorism and cyber-related programs:
Terrorism-related Sanctions
- OFAC Designates al-Shabaab Network: OFAC on March 11 designated 16 entities and individuals spanning the Horn of Africa, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Cyprus for their roles in raising and laundering funds for al-Shabaab, a terrorist group affiliated with al-Qa’ida. The designated individuals include influential business people in the region that lend financial backing to al-Shabaab. The designees include Dubai-based Haleel Commodities L.L.C. and its subsidiaries in Cyprus Haleel Finance LTD, Haleel Holdings, and Haleel LTD; its Kenya subsidiary, Haleel Commodities Limited; and its Uganda subsidiary, Haleel Commodities LTD. Haleel Commodities L.L.C. also operates as Haleel Electronics in Somalia. See the list of designees. Related to this action, OFAC issued Counter Terrorism General License 29, Authorizing the Wind Down of Transactions Involving Haleel Commodities LLC. Read more.
Russia-related Sanctions
- OFAC Sanctions Russian Companies Advancing Malign Activities in Africa: OFAC on March 8 sanctioned two companies — Russia-based, Limited Liability Company Broker Expert and Central African Republic-based, Bois Rouge SARLU — for their efforts in advancing Russia’s malign activities in CAR. The designees have played an important role enabling the Private Military Company ‘Wagner’ (Wagner Group) and, by extension, the activities of the Russian Federation. The designees sought monetary gain from illicit natural resource extraction and provided material and financial support to the Wagner Group and other organizations associated with the enterprise of Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the former Wagner Group owner who died in August 2023 in a plane explosion in Russia. Read more.
Iran-related Sanctions
- OFAC Further Sanctions Vessels Involved in Supporting Houthis and the Iranian Regime: OFAC on March 6 designated Hong Kong- and Marshall Islands-based ship owners and two vessels for their role in shipping commodities on behalf of Iranian-backed Houthi financial facilitator, Sa’id al-Jamal. OFAC’s action follows a Feb. 27 action targeting a related vessel, the ARTURA which has transported Iranian commodities for Sa’id al-Jamal. OFAC on March 6 designated vessel RENEEZ which is owned and managed by Marshall Islands-based Reneez Shipping Limited, and ETERNAL FORTUNE which is owned by Hong Kong-based Hongkong Unitop Group Ltd. RENEEZ was designated for transporting tens of thousands of metric tons of Iranian commodities for Sa’id al-Jamal. ETERNAL FORTUNE was designated for falsifying its Automatic Identification System signal to hide the fact that it was in the process of conducting a ship-to-ship transfer from the ARTURA. Read more.
Cyber-related Sanctions
- OFAC Designates Individuals and Entities Involved in Spyware Targeting U.S. Officials: OFAC on March 5 designated two individuals and five entities associated with the Intellexa Consortium for their roles in developing, operating, and distributing commercial spyware technology used to target U.S. government officials, journalists, and policy experts. Intellexa Consortium packaged a suite of tools under the brand-name “Predator” spyware, which can infiltrate a range of electronic devices through zero-click attacks that require no user interaction for the spyware to infect the device. This spyware has been deployed by foreign actors in an effort to covertly surveil U.S. government officials, journalists, and policy experts. OFAC designated the founder of the Intellexa Consortium, Tal Jonathan Dilian; a corporate off-shoring specialist who has provided managerial services to the Intellexa Consortium, Sara Aleksandra Fayssal Hamou; Greece-based software company, Intellexa S.A.; Ireland-based company, Intellexa Limited; North Macedonia-based company, Cytrox AD; Hungary-based entity, Cytrox Holdings Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag; and Ireland-based entity within the Intellexa Consortium, Thalestris Limited. The individuals and entities were designated pursuant to Executive Order 13694, Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities as amended by E.O. 13757. Read more.
Human Rights Abuse Designations
- OFAC Amends Global Magnitsky Sanctions Regulations: OFAC on March 11 amended the Global Magnitsky Sanctions Regulations and reissued them in their entirety. This final rule replaces the regulations that were published in abbreviated form on June 29, 2018 with a more comprehensive set of regulations that includes additional interpretive guidance and definitions, general licenses, and other regulatory provisions that will provide further guidance to the public. Read the final rule.
