Industry should expect delays in licensing processing and commodity jurisdiction requests due to reduced staffing amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls said March 19. The DDTC is also urging industry to submit disclosures through email to DTCC-CaseStatus@state.gov. All “email material” should be submitted on company letterhead in a PDF format. DDTC is not requiring duplicate hard copies but will accept physical mail if a disclosure cannot be submitted through email.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned five United Arab Emirates companies for buying Iranian oil, Treasury said in a March 19 press release. The companies bought “hundreds of thousands” of metric tons of petroleum products from the National Iranian Oil Company, which was sanctioned by OFAC in 2008. The companies include Petro Grand FZE, Alphabet International DMCC, Swissol Trade DMCC, Alam Althrwa General Trading LLC and Alwaneo LLC Co.
Agricultural exporters and shippers are losing “hundreds of millions of dollars” due to shipping uncertainty and cargo detention penalties caused by the response to the coronavirus pandemic, said Peter Friedmann, executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition. Friedmann was critical of the Federal Maritime Commission, which has yet to finalize a proposed rule issued last year that would provide guidance about how the FMC assesses the fairness of demurrage and detention practices. The rule’s public comment period ended in October.
The Commerce Department is seeking comments on an information collection relating to voluntary self-disclosures of violations of the Export Administration Regulations, according to a notice in the March 19 Federal Register. Commerce is preparing to submit the collection to the Office of Management and Budget for review. Comments are due no later than April 20.
An Iranian businessman was convicted of violating U.S. sanctions after he funneled more than $115 million through the U.S. financial system for a Venezuelan construction project, the Justice Department said in a March 16 press release. Ali Sadr Hashemi Nejad funneled the money to his family business, the Stratus Group, which helped the Iranian International Housing Company work with U.S.-sanctioned Petroleos de Venezuela to build housing units in Venezuela. Nejad was convicted on several counts, including conspiracy to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and money laundering, both of which carry a maximum 20-year prison sentence.
The United Kingdom amended entries under its Ukraine sanctions list, according to a March 18 notice from the U.K.’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation. The U.K. removed asset freezes from two entries -- Evgeni Viktorovich Bushmin and Valery Kirillovich Medvedev -- and updated identifying information for 154 people and 11 entities.
The State Department sanctioned Amir Muhammad Sa’id Abdal-Rahman al-Mawla, the new leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, according to a March 17 news release. The agency also released identifying information on Ali Abdullah Ayoub (see 2003170042), the Syrian official sanctioned by the Treasury Department March 17. Ayoub was sanctioned for contributing to the country’s humanitarian crisis, the agency said.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control added one entry to its Specially Designated Nationals List, removed 13 others and amended two additional entries, according to a March 17 notice. OFAC also deleted four entries from its Foreign Sanctions Evaders List. The agency added Ali Abdullah Ayoub, Syria’s defense minister, to its SDN List, while deleting several entries for entities based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cyprus, Switzerland and Syria. Treasury did not immediately release more information on the sanctions.
The U.S. extradited an Iranian citizen from Georgia to face charges related to sanctions violations, money laundering and illegal exports to Iran, the Justice Department said in a March 17 press release. Merdad Ansari allegedly violated the Iranian Transactions Regulations by attempting to tranship cargo to Iran using his company, Dubai-based Gulf Gate Sea Cargo L.L.C. Ansari worked with co-defendant Mehrdad Foomanie between 2007 and 2011 to obtain more than 100,000 parts from companies across the globe valued at more than $2.5 million for more than 1,250 transactions, including nearly 600 transactions with U.S. companies. The scheme involved buying parts from those companies without informing the sellers they would be shipped to Iran, the Justice Department said. Both Ansari and Foomanie face a maximum 20-year prison sentence for conspiracy to violate the ITR, a 20-year prison sentence for conspiracy to launder money and five years in prison for conspiracy to commit mail fraud.
Export Compliance Daily is providing readers with some of the top stories for March 9-13 in case you missed them.