The Directorate of Defense Trade Controls on Feb. 19 issued two frequently asked questions that provide guidance on U.S. people exporting defense services abroad. The FAQs clarify guidance for exporters who “believe they may be currently furnishing defense services without authorization,” DDTC said.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released two new Frequently Asked Questions related to its reporting, procedures and penalties regulations (see 1906200036), according to a Feb. 20 notice. The FAQs provide updated instructions and “incorporate” new requirements for filing reports with OFAC on blocked property, unblocked property and rejected transactions.
A Texas businessman and former procurement officer for Venezuela’s state-owned and sanctioned energy company, Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., was sentenced to 70 months in prison after scheming to secure corrupt PdVSA contracts, the Justice Department said in a Feb. 19 press release. Alfonzo Eliezer Gravina Munoz laundered the proceeds of a bribery scheme involving U.S.-based companies and Venezuelan government officials in exchange for contracts with Citgo Petroleum Corp., a Houston-based subsidiary of PdVSA, the Justice Department said. Munoz was also ordered to pay more than $200,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
The Justice Department settled its lawsuit with Chancery Staffing Solutions over claims of improper screening of non-U.S. citizens, the DOJ said in a Feb. 18 news release. The suit involved allegations that “the staffing company violated the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) when, at a law firm client’s directive, it screened out work authorized non-U.S. citizens and U.S. citizens with dual citizenship from a document review project without a lawful basis.”
The United Nations Security Council removed two entries from its ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida Sanctions List after receiving delisting requests, the UNSC said in a Feb. 18 notice. Asset freezes and an arms embargo will no longer apply to Al-Mokhtar Ben Mohamed Ban Al-Mokhtar Bouchoucha and Imad Ben Bechir Ben Hamda Al-Jammali.
The United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation issued a Feb. 20 correction relating to a previous sanctions notice. The OFSI said it provided “inaccurate identifying information” in a Feb. 19 notice about Abdul Haq, who is listed on the ISIL (Da’esh) and al-Qaida Sanctions List. OFSI clarified that Haq is still subject to an asset freeze and corrected the error in an update to the list.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated five members of Iran’s Guardian Council and its Elections Supervision Committee for interfering with free and fair elections, Treasury said in a Feb. 20 notice. The members are Ahmad Jannati, the secretary of the Guardian Council; Mohammad Yazdi, a member of Iran’s Guardian Council who was formerly Iran’s first judiciary chief; and three members of the Elections Supervisory Committee: Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei, Siamak Rahpeyk and Mohammad Hasan Sadeghi Moghadam.
Japan’s trade minister said Japan has a “growing concern” that exports of advanced technologies are increasingly being used for military purposes, and called on Asian countries to tighten their controls of proliferation-related exports, according to an unofficial translation of a Feb. 19 notice from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The remarks came during Tokyo’s Asia Export Control Seminar earlier this month, which included more than 30 countries and hundreds of government and industry representatives. In opening remarks at the seminar, Japan’s minister called on Asian countries to “properly manage microtechnology” and “increase the effectiveness of export controls in order to respond to internationally responsible microtechnology procurement activities.”
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control updated a Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act entry on its Specially Designated Nationals List, according to a Feb. 19 notice. The update adds an address and identifying information for Inversiones Continental, a Panamanian holding company sanctioned in 2015 for money laundering and drug trafficking.
The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control released a report Feb. 19 on licensing activities for certain exports to Iran and Sudan during the second quarter of fiscal year 2019. The report provides licensing statistics for exports of agricultural goods, medicine and medical devices to both countries as required by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000.