The Office of Foreign Assets Control Dec. 30 fined a multinational Danish-based refrigeration manufacturer more than $4.3 million for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, Syria and Sudan. Danfoss, which also sells air conditioners and other cooling and heating products, illegally directed customers in all three countries to make payments through a U.S. financial institution, OFAC said in an enforcement notice. The company also made illegal payments to entities in Iran and Syria.
OFAC
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. "foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States," the agency says. It is tasked with updating the Specially Designated Nationals List, or SDN List, among other sanctions lists overseen by the agency.
MidFirst Bank violated the U.S. Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators Sanctions Regulations when it processed payments for two sanctioned people after they were designated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC said in a July 21 enforcement notice. OFAC said the bank, headquartered in Oklahoma City, maintained accounts for the people and processed 34 of their payments in the two weeks after they were added to the Specially Designated Nationals List.