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CUBA POLITICS SECTION - Havana Journal > OFAC
Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Recent Actions notification service at the U.S. Department of the Treasury has just issued a Release of Civil Penalties Information.
United Nations Federal Credit Union has settled Cuban Assets Control Regulations Allegations
United Nations Federal Credit Union of New York, a federally chartered and regulated credit union, has remitted $500,000 to settle allegations of violations of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 515 (the “CACR”).
OFAC alleged that UNFCU dealt in property in which Cuba or a Cuban national had an…
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
Innospec Inc, a Delaware corporation, has agreed to pay $2.2 million to settle allegations of violations of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations.
OFAC’s settlement of the apparent violations is part of a $40.2 million comprehensive criminal and civil settlement between Innospec and OFAC, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office.
OFAC alleged that, after Innospec’s acquisition of a foreign corporation that maintained a local sales office in Cuba, Innospec conducted business in Cuba through its acquired subsidiary, including conducting transactions in which the…
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
OFAC has been busy lately. In two days OFAC has released four actions related to Cuba.
In order of release:
1. Updated list of authorized providers of air, travel, and remittance forwarding services to Cuba.
We have posted all of the licensed Cuba Service Providers.
2. Personal Communication Services General License
We posted an article about this relaxation of the US trade Embargo that allows US based communications companies to export their products into Cuba.
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An OFAC “release of civil penalties” was just posted today and there was only one violation and that was for violating an Iranian transaction sanctions program.
The last OFAC civil penalties with a Cuban sanctions violation was back in August against an Australian bank.
So, all is quiet lately from the Obama Administration’s OFAC.
Perhaps OFAC is doing what it should be doing and looking for terrorist money rather than reviewing and fining people for traveling to Cuba and buying Cuban cigars over the Internet.
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BY FRANCES ROBLES | Miami Herald
Joan Brown Campbell, the church lady who befriended Elián González during his sojourn here a decade ago, has been to Cuba 37 times—except during the last Bush administration, when she could not get the required U.S. permission to visit the island for four straight years.
She applied again this year now that Barack Obama is in the White House and got the license to travel straightaway. The U.S. State Department even opened doors for her to invite several Cuban academics to visit New York. Among those who attended a conference Brown organized last month:…
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The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has amended the Cuban Assets Control Regulations to implement President Obama’s initiative of April 13, 2009 to change the rules in three major areas, family visits, family remittances, and telecommunications.
OFAC has issued a general license authorizing travel related transactions for visits to “close relatives” (aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins) who are nationals of Cuba. There is no limit on the frequency or duration such visits to “close relatives” and OFAC has also issued a general license easing restrictions on remittances. These amendments do not affect the prohibition…
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Australia and New Zealand Bank Group, Ltd., Settles Allegations of Violations of the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations and Cuban Assets Control Regulations:
Australia and New Zealand Bank Group, Ltd., Melbourne, Australia (“ANZ”), remitted $5,750,000 to settle allegations of violations of the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 538, and the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 515.
The international trade finance and foreign currency exchange activities at issue in the settlement occurred from 2004 to 2006 and involved ANZ’s processing of transactions through U.S. correspondent accounts.
ANZ actively manipulated the…
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
OFAC, an agency within the US Department of Treasury has issued fines to two companies in their recent Civil Penalties Release. OFAC fined one individual $15,000 for violating the Cuba sanctions.
MGE UPS Systems, Inc., now known as American Power Conversion Corporation
MGE was assessed a Penalty for Violating the Cuban Assets Control Regulations in the amount of $10,341.00 for its violation of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations occurring in September 2005. MGE paid the fine for selling…
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
Contained in a release of OFAC’s Civil Penalties today, Philips Electronics of North America has agreed to settle allegations of violations of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations occurring between June 2004 and March 2006 by paying a fine of $128,750.00.
OFAC alleged that an employee of Philips of North America traveled to Cuba without an OFAC license in the course of business of selling medical equipment to Cuba.
Philips voluntarily disclosed this matter to OFAC and it was resolved according to prior enforcement guidelines published by OFAC, 68 Fed.…
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Rob Sequin | Havana Journal
Sol Melia, a publicly traded corporation based in Spain, is a well known hotel operator in Cuba yet they have a business office in Miami, have a business interest in the Paramount Hotel in New York City and have dozens of domain names registered at US based registrar GoDaddy.
This article entices one to ask why a corporation with such a large business interest in Cuba can have a US office and domains at a US based registrar while not having any compliance issues with OFAC.
I was motivated to research Sol Melia’s…
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