The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) assessed a $750,000 penalty on Finans Kiymetli Madenler Turizm Otomotiv Gida Tekstil San. Ve Tic for violating the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, according to a Sept. 26 release. In 2012, Finans originated at least three electronic funds transfers, totaling $257,808, that processed through financial institutions located in the U.S. for the benefit of the government of Iran or persons in Iran, OFAC said. The Treasury blocked two of those transactions. Finans is a Turkey-based trading company.
The following deletions have been made to the Office of Foreign Assets Control's Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list:
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added individuals and made changes to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list on Sept. 24.
The Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) ordered Iman Kazerani to be denied export privileges for up to ten years following a Jan. 30 conviction that concluded Kazerani violated the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Kazerani was convicted of knowingly and willfully exporting and causing the exportation of laptop computers from the United States to Iran in violation of the embargo imposed upon that country by the U.S., without having first obtained the required licenses or authorizations from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, United States Department of the Treasury. Liu was also sentenced to three years probation, a $10,000 criminal fine and an assessment of $100 by the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added individuals and made changes to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list on Sept. 19.
The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) is facing funding hurdles as the agency eyes the Oct. 15 implementation of the first set of U.S. Munitions List (USML)-Commerce Control List (CCL) transfers under the administration’s Export Control Reform (ECR) initiative, said Under Secretary of the Commerce Department’s BIS Eric Hirschhorn at a Sept. 18 meeting with the President’s Export Council Subcommittee on Export Administration (PECSEA). Hirschhorn said congressional failure to pass an appropriations bill or continuing resolution by the beginning of Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 on Oct. 1 will virtually shut down ECR licensing operations at BIS. Lawmakers are currently scrambling to provide the government funding for FY2014 (see 13091129). But should funding be provided, Hirschhorn also said the House is targeting significantly lower funding for BIS than the president requested. The House mark will hamper ECR outreach and awareness efforts, said Hirschhorn.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued two general licenses Sept. 10 authorizing certain humanitarian activity by nongovernmental organizations in Iran and athletic exchanges between Iran and the U.S. OFAC said that General License E authorizes the exportation of funds and services by nongovernmental organizations to support beneficial, not-for-profit humanitarian projects for the people of Iran. OFAC said the projects will include efforts towards meeting basic human needs, non-commercial reconstruction in response to natural disasters for up to two years, environmental and wildlife conservation, and human rights and democracy building. General License F will authorize importation and exportation of services to support professional and amateur sporting activities or exchanges between the U.S. and Iran, OFAC said.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control has released new civil penalties information for the month of September as follows:
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) updated its list of medical supplies that are approved for export or reexport to Iran. The list is due for publication in the Federal Register on Sept. 5, but was effective July 25. The items are defined as basic medical supplies under the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations. The assorted, approved items fall under the following categories: General Medical Equipment and Supplies, Anaesthesiology, Apparel, Cardiology, Dental equipment and supplies, Gynecology & Urology, Laboratory, Nephrology, Neurology, Obstetrics and Maternity Care, Ophthalmology and Optometry, Physical and Occupational Therapy, Radiology, Sterilization, and Surgery.
Iranian citizen Arsalan Shemirani was sentenced Aug. 15 to 48 months in prison for conspiring to illegal export electronic parts from the U.S. to Iran, ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) said. According to court documents, Shemirani, along with his brother in Iran and a co-conspirator in Hong Kong, exported the parts from the U.S. to Iran via Canada and Hong Kong, without obtaining authorization or a license from the Office of Foreign Assets Control. Shemirani was residing in Canada at the time of the conspiracy and received purchase orders totaling approximately 3,695 electronic components from his brother, who operated an electronics supply business in Tehran, Iran. ICE said the exported items included high performance electronic power equipment like field programmable microchips, analog converters and other testing and power equipment. Shemirani pleaded guilty Jan. 25 to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and to defraud the U.S., ICE said. He was also sentenced to forfeiture in the amount of $187,305.