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  • OFAC issues amended Venezuela-related general license

    Financial Crimes

    On April 21, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued amended Venezuela General License (GL) 8F, titled “Authorizing Transactions Involving Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA) Necessary for the Limited Maintenance of Essential Operations in Venezuela or the Wind Down of Operations in Venezuela for Certain Entities.” GL 8F supersedes GL 8E and extends the expiration date for certain authorizations through December 1 that would otherwise be prohibited under Executive Orders 13850, 13857, or 13884.

    Visit here for additional InfoBytes coverage of actions related to Venezuela.

    Financial Crimes Department of Treasury OFAC Sanctions Of Interest to Non-US Persons Venezuela Petroleos de Venezuela

  • OFAC issues amended Venezuela-related general license and FAQ

    Financial Crimes

    On April 10, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued Venezuela General License (GL) 5C, which supersedes GL 5B and authorizes certain transactions otherwise prohibited under Executive Orders 13835 and 13857 related to, or that provide financing for, dealings in the Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. 2020 8.5 Percent Bond on or after July 22, 2020. Concurrently, OFAC issued a new Venezuela-related frequently asked question regarding GL 5C.

    Financial Crimes Department of Treasury OFAC Sanctions Of Interest to Non-US Persons Venezuela

  • OFAC amends Venezuela-related general license

    Financial Crimes

    On April 3, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued amended Venezuela General License (GL) 13E, which supersedes GL 13D and extends the expiration date through May 14, 2020 for certain transactions involving the identified corporation and any of its subsidiaries that are normally prohibited under Executive Orders (E.O.) 13850, 13857, and 13884. As previously covered by InfoBytes, E.O. 13884, among other things, prevents all property and interest in property of the Government of Venezuela within the U.S. or in the possession of a U.S. person from being transferred, paid, exported, withdrawn, or otherwise dealt in. OFAC notes that the corporation is engaged with OFAC on a proposed corporate restructuring that may result in significant ownership and control changes.

    Financial Crimes Department of Treasury OFAC Sanctions Venezuela Of Interest to Non-US Persons

  • DOJ unveils charges against Maduro, Venezuelan government officials

    Financial Crimes

    On March 26, the DOJ announced criminal charges against numerous current and former Venezuelan government officials, including “Former President” Nicolás Maduro Moros and two Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) leaders. The charges include allegedly engaging in drug trafficking, laundering drug proceeds using Florida real estate and luxury goods, corruption, and bribery. According to an unsealed four-count superseding indictment filed in the Southern District of New York, Maduro, along with five other high-ranking officials, participated in a “narco-terrorism conspiracy,” conspired to import large-scale cocaine shipments into the U.S., and used—or conspired to use—“machine guns and destructive devices” to further the narco-terrorism conspiracies. The charges also allege that Maduro and the officials negotiated and facilitated FARC-produced cocaine shipments, coordinated “foreign affairs with Honduras and other countries to facilitate large-scale drug trafficking,” and solicited assistance from FARC leadership with respect to militia training.

    A separate indictment unsealed in the District of Columbia charges the current Venezuelan Minister of Defense with conspiracy to distribute cocaine on a U.S.-registered aircraft. That individual was previously sanctioned in 2018 by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). (Covered by InfoBytes here.)

    A criminal complaint was also filed in the Southern District of Florida charging the current Chief Justice of the Venezuelan Supreme Court with accepting “tens of millions of dollars and bribes to illegally fix dozens of civil and criminal cases,” including a case in which the defendant authorized the dismissal of charges brought against a Venezuelan who was “charged in a multibillion-dollar fraud scheme against the Venezuelan state-owned oil company.” According to the complaint, the defendant laundered the proceeds through U.S. bank accounts, and spent approximately $3 million in South Florida on a private aircraft and luxury goods.

    Another unsealed indictment in the Southern District of New York charges three additional Venezuelans with evading OFAC sanctions by working “with U.S. persons and U.S.-based entities to provide private flight services for the benefit of Maduro’s 2018 presidential campaign.”

    Additional separate indictments accuse various former Venezuelan officials of drug trafficking and military aircraft smuggling. In addition, several individuals were charged with FCPA violations, including: (i) two individuals for allegedly receiving bribes to award business to U.S.-based companies; and (ii) several individuals for allegedly participating in an international money laundering scheme and conspiring to solicit Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA) vendors “for bribes and kickbacks in exchange for providing assistance to those vendors in connection with their PDVSA business.” According to the DOJ’s press release, the scheme involved “bribes paid by the owners of U.S.-based companies to Venezuelan government officials to corruptly secure energy contracts and payment priority on outstanding invoices.”

    Financial Crimes DOJ Indictment Of Interest to Non-US Persons Venezuela Petroleos de Venezuela Anti-Money Laundering Bribery FCPA OFAC Sanctions Courts

  • OFAC sanctions additional Russian oil brokerage firm for doing business with Venezuela

    Financial Crimes

    On March 12, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13850 against a Russian oil brokerage firm for operating in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy. According to OFAC, following the February 18 designation of a Swiss-incorporated, Russian-controlled oil brokerage and its board chairman and president (covered by InfoBytes here), cargoes of Venezuelan oil allocated to the designated company were charged to the newly sanctioned brokerage firm in order to evade U.S. sanctions. In connection with the designation, OFAC issued Venezuela General License 36A, which authorizes certain transactions and activities otherwise prohibited under E.O.s 13850 and 13857 that are required in order to wind down business with the company. Concurrently, OFAC issued amended FAQ 817 and FAQ 818 to address the significance of OFAC’s designation of the company, and whether there is a wind-down period. OFAC reiterated that “all property and interests in property of [the brokerage firm] that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by the designated individual and entity, are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.”

    Financial Crimes Department of Treasury OFAC Of Interest to Non-US Persons Sanctions Venezuela Russia

  • Treasury sanctions Russian company for doing business with Venezuela

    Financial Crimes

    On February 18, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13850, as amended, against a Swiss-incorporated, Russian-controlled oil brokerage and its board chairman and president for operating in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy. According to the press release, the company assisted Venezuela state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A., in brokering, selling, and transporting Venezuelan petroleum products.

    In connection with the designations, OFAC issued Venezuela General License (GL) 36, titled “Authorizing Certain Activities Necessary to the Wind Down of Transactions Involving [company].” GL 36, which expires on May 20, authorizes certain transactions and activities otherwise prohibited under E.O.s 13850 and 13857 that are required in order to wind down business with the company. Concurrently, OFAC issued a new Venezuela-related frequently asked question regarding GL 36, addressing the significance of OFAC’s designation of the company, and whether the E.O. 13850 blocking sanctions on the company apply to its corporate parent and affiliates. In its press release, OFAC added that “all property and interests in property of [the company] and [its president] that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by the designated individual and entity, are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.”

    Financial Crimes Venezuela Petroleos de Venezuela Department of Treasury OFAC Combating the Financing of Terrorism Of Interest to Non-US Persons Sanctions

  • Venezuela’s state-owned airline subject to OFAC sanctions

    Financial Crimes

    On February 7, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it identified a previously blocked state-owned Venezuelan airline and its fleet of aircraft pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13884. The entities—subject to sanctions under E.O. 13884, which blocks property of the Venezuelan government—have been added to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. According to OFAC’s press release, the commercial airline and its fleet have been used by Venezuela’s illegitimate government “to promote its own political agenda, including shuttling regime officials to countries such as North Korea, Cuba, and Iran.” OFAC observed that Venezuelan citizens may still travel by air on a number of other airlines that provide domestic service as well as service to and from Venezuela. OFAC also reiterated that its “regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons.”

    Financial Crimes Department of Treasury OFAC Of Interest to Non-US Persons Sanctions Venezuela

  • OFAC sanctions entities for aiding North Korea’s exportation of workers

    Financial Crimes

    On January 14, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced it was imposing sanctions on a North Korean trading corporation and a China-based North Korean lodging facility for facilitating North Korea’s practice of sending laborers abroad. According to OFAC, North Korea’s continued practice of exporting North Koreans as illicit laborers is an ongoing attempt to undermine and evade United Nations Security Council Resolutions. The designated companies’ exportation of workers on behalf of the country, OFAC stated, has generated revenue for the North Korean government or the Workers’ Party of Korea. As a result of the sanctions, “all property and interests in property of these targets that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC.” OFAC noted that its regulations “generally prohibit” U.S. persons from participating in transactions with the designated persons, and warned foreign financial institutions that if they knowingly facilitate significant transactions for any of the designated individuals, they may be subject to U.S. secondary sanctions.

    Financial Crimes Department of Treasury Of Interest to Non-US Persons OFAC Executive Order Sanctions Venezuela China

  • OFAC publishes new Venezuela-related FAQs

    Financial Crimes

    On December 9, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published two new Venezuela-related FAQs. FAQ 808 stipulates that a specific license from OFAC is not “ordinarily required” when initiating or continuing U.S. legal proceedings against persons designated or blocked pursuant to OFAC’s Venezuela sanctions programs. Specific licenses are also not required for a U.S. court or court personnel to hear such a case. However, a specific license from OFAC is required in order to enter into a settlement agreement or to enforce a lien, judgment, or other order “through execution, garnishment, or other judicial process purporting to transfer or otherwise alter or affect property or interests in property blocked pursuant to the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations.” OFAC also provides a list of measures where a specific license is required. Additionally, FAQ 809 clarifies when a specific license is required to conduct an auction or other type of sale involving shares of a Venezuelan government entity whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to the Venezuela Sanctions Regulations. Additionally, OFAC “urges caution in proceeding with any step in furtherance of measures which might alter or affect blocked property or interests in blocked property.” 

    Visit here for additional InfoBytes coverage of actions related to Venezuela.

    Financial Crimes OFAC Department of Treasury Sanctions Venezuela Of Interest to Non-US Persons

  • OFAC identifies Venezuelan oil tankers as blocked property

    Financial Crimes

    On December 3, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced additions to the Specially Designated Nationals List (SDN List) pursuant to Executive Order 13884, which blocks the property of the Venezuelan government. OFAC identified six tankers of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company as property of the Venezuelan Government and therefore as blocked property, after all the vessels recently transported petroleum to Cuba. A seventh tanker also was identified as a blocked property, pursuant to Executive Order 13850 for operating in the oil sector of the Venezuelan economy, after delivering Venezuelan petroleum to Cuba. According to the press release, the vessel’s name had been changed to circumvent sanctions as it moved Venezuelan oil to Cuba. The SDN List was updated to link the new name of the vessel to its former name. OFAC reiterated that its “regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons.”

    Financial Crimes OFAC Of Interest to Non-US Persons Department of Treasury Venezuela Sanctions Petroleos de Venezuela

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