The Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the following sanctions action last week.
Enforcement Action
- OFAC assesses over $215 million CMP against GVA Capital Ltd. for Ukraine/Russia-related sanctions violations: OFAC on June 12 assessed a $215,988,868 civil monetary penalty against GVA Capital Ltd. of San Francisco, California for violations of OFAC’s sanctions against Russia and for related reporting obligations. OFAC’s assessment is a result of GVA Capital’s management of an investment for sanctioned Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov while aware of his blocked status. GVA Capital also failed to comply with an OFAC subpoena during OFAC’s investigation into this matter. Read more.
Foreign Terrorist Organization Sanctions
- OFAC sanctions individuals and entities purporting to be charities for supporting Hamas: OFAC on June 10 sanctioned five individuals and five sham charities located abroad that are prominent financial supporters of Hamas’s Military Wing and its terrorist activities. The designated entities are Al Weam Charitable Society; Türkiye-based Filistin Vakfi; Algeria-based El Baraka Association for Charitable and Humanitarian Work; the Netherlands-based Israa Charitable Foundation Netherlands; and Italy-based Associazione Benefica La Cupola d’Oro. The designees are responsible for funding Hamas’s Military Wing under the pretense of conducting humanitarian work, both internationally and in Gaza. OFAC also designated Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association for its ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The designated individuals are Al Weam Chairman of the Board of Directors, Muhammad Sami Muhammad Abu Marei; the President of Filistin Vakfi, Zeki Abdullah Ibrahim Ararawi; President of El Baraka, Ahmed Brahimi; Amin Ghazi Abu Rashed, an Israa Foundation representative; and Israa Abou Rashed, an Israa Foundation representative and Hamas operative. Read more.
- OFAC sanctions Los Chapitos: OFAC on June 9 sanctioned Los Chapitos, a powerful faction of the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel that facilitates illicit fentanyl trafficking and production. Los Chapitos-controlled laboratories are responsible for introducing fentanyl in counterfeit pills manufactured by the Sinaloa Cartel and trafficked to the United States. OFAC also designated two fugitive leaders of Los Chapitos, Archivaldo Ivan Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, sons of incarcerated Sinaloa Cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera. Through its Narcotics Rewards Program, the U.S. Department of State is offering a reward of up to $10 million each for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Archivaldo Ivan Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar. Read more.
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