No Evidence of Willful Sanctions Violations, Danish Company Says After OFAC Fine
Danfoss -- the Danish company fined more than $4.3 million last month for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, Syria and Sudan (see 2212300030) -- stressed it didn't sell items subject to sanctions or export controls and has taken steps to improve its compliance program. In a Dec. 30 statement, it also said "no evidence was found that Danfoss willfully accepted payments for the purpose of potentially evading sanctions." The company noted that the Office of Foreign Assets Control said Danfoss "took quick action to ascertain the root causes of the conduct at issue, cooperated fully with OFAC, and also adopted new and more effective internal controls and procedures to prevent a recurrence of the apparent violations." The company added its last shipment to Iran "took place in January 2019."
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Treasury fined the refrigeration manufacturer after the agency said it illegally directed customers in Iran, Syria and Sudan to make payments through a U.S. financial institution. The violations stemmed from Danfoss’ ineffective compliance program, OFAC said, adding that the company didn’t have procedures to “regularly monitor” its subsidiary's activities to look for potential sanctions issues.