U.S. OFAC announces Texas-based freight forwarder to pay $1.6 million for violations of multiple sanctions programs
The conduct was egregious and not voluntarily self-disclosed.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced that a freight forwarder based in Houston, Texas, has agreed to pay $1,610,775 to settle potential civil liabilities for apparent violations of multiple OFAC sanctions programs, including those related to Venezuela and Iran.
According to today’s enforcement release, the company contracted with a blocked government of Venezuela airline to transport goods to Argentina from Mexico to a customer in Argentina. The airline used an aircraft blocked by OFAC for being operated by an Iranian airline that is crewed by Iranian nationals—reflecting apparent violations of OFAC’s Iran, proliferation, and terrorism sanctions programs.
OFAC determined the conduct was egregious and not voluntarily self-disclosed.