OFAC makes designations under the Global Magnitsky Act

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has taken two separate actions under the Global Magnitsky Act. On 12 June, OFAC sanctioned Dominican Republic senator Felix Ramon Bautista Rosario for ‘corrupt acts’ including ‘profiteering’ from reconstruction efforts in Haiti. Five entities owned (or controlled by) Bautista were also sanctioned. At the same time, Cambodian general Hing Bun Hieng was listed for commanding Cambodia’s Prime Minister Bodyguard Unit, which was involved in serious human rights abuses, and being ‘personally implicated’ in attacks against individuals.

The US Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (‘FinCEN’) also issued an advisory to warn financial institutions about the tactics used by ‘corrupt foreign political figures’ and their ‘financial facilitators’ to enable human rights abuses.

On 15 June, OFAC sanctioned 14 entities for being affiliated with Israeli businessman and billionaire Dan Gertler, designated in December 2017. Gertler was listed for setting himself up as the compulsory middleman between multinationals and the Congolese state in a series of ‘opaque and corrupt’ mining and oil deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The number of sanctioned entities and individuals in Gertler’s network now totals 34.

The parties in both the 12 June and 15 June actions were sanctioned under Executive Order 13818 ‘Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuses or Corruption’, issued under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act 2016. To date, 73 parties have had assets blocked under this executive order, cutting them off from the US financial markets.

For OFAC’s Notice of 12 June, see:
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20180612.aspx

For 12 June update to SDN List, see:
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20180615.aspx

For Treasury’s Notice of 12 June, see:
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm0411

For FinCEN’s advisory of 12 June, see:
https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/advisory/2018-06-12/PEP%20Facilitator%20Advisory_FINAL%20508.pdf

For Treasury’s Notice of 15 June, see:
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm0417

For 15 June update to the SDN List, see:
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20180615.aspx