International Trade Law News

Published by Jacobson Burton Kelley PLLC

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued its monthly report of civil penalties imposed on companies and individuals for violating the sanctions regimes administered by OFAC. OFAC's most recent monthly report indicates that the agency settled nine cases with corporate entities, entered into informal settlement agreements with 69 individuals for engaging in prohibited Cuba travel-related transactions and entered into informal settlement agreements with two individuals for engaging in prohibited activity with Iran.

OFAC settled the following cases with corporate entities (amount of the civil penalty is in parentheses):
--Bank-Fund Staff Federal Credit Union, 1998-2000 Operation of Iranian accounts ($14,000.00)
--E. & J. Gallo Winery, 2002 Business travel-related transactions with Cuba ($3,750.00 - voluntarily disclosed)
--Endocardial Solutions, Inc., 2001 Exportation of goods destined for Iran ($6,000.00)
--Genesis Forwarding Services, 2000 Facilitation of trade with Yugoslavia ($2,500.00)
--Sea Bridge Projects, Inc., 2000 Facilitation of trade with Sudan ($6,050.00)--Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, 2001 Funds transfer involving Libya ($4,500.00)
--SunTrust Bank, 2002 -2003 Operation of Iranian accounts ($40,423.00 - voluntarily disclosed)
--U.S. Bank, Cincinnati, OH, 2004 Funds transfer involving Libya ($2,586.44)
--West L.A. Music, 2000 Exportation to Yugoslavia ($1,537.50)

OFAC settled the following cases with individuals (OFAC does not publish names or amounts of individual settlements):
--OFAC settled 62 cases with individuals engaging in travel-related transactions with Cuba and imposed civil penalties totaling $61,750 (average settlement of $995.97)
--OFAC settled 7 cases with individuals for traveling to and importing goods from Cuba. The total penalties imposed was $8,638.00 (average settlement of $1,234.00).
--OFAC settled 2 cases with individuals for investing in and operating an Iranian entity from 1999 to 2003 and imposed total penalties of $14,272 (average settlement of $7,1236.00).