The Office of Foreign Assets Control fined an Italian gas equipment manufacturer $950,000 for violating U.S. sanctions against Iran, OFAC said in a March 26 notice. The company, Nordgas S.r.l., knowingly reexported 27 shipments of U.S.-origin “air pressure switches” to Iran, OFAC said, and caused a U.S. company to “indirectly” export goods to Iran.

The Magnitsky Act is set to sunset in 2022, and the bipartisan authors of the original sanctions bill asked civil society representatives in the U.S. and Africa how the renewal should be shaped.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two more Myanmar entities, issued four new general licenses and published two new frequently asked questions to provide guidance on certain exempted transactions with Myanmar. The sanctions and guidance, issued March 25, came days after OFAC designated entities and officials associated with the country’s military-led coup last month (see 2103220036) and about three weeks after the Commerce Department increased export restrictions for shipments to Myanmar (see 2103040075).

The recent U.S. decision to increase sanctions and export controls on Russia, although largely narrow, could have significant implications for exporters doing business in Russia, law firms said. U.S. companies should pay close attention to new restrictions on certain controlled services and the potential impacts of the restrictions on disclosure and reporting requirements, the firms said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two people and two entities connected to the Myanmar military and its “violent repression” on pro-democracy protests, OFAC said March 22. The sanctions target Than Hlaing, a leader of Myanmar’s police force; military official Aung Soe; the 33rd Light Infantry Division of the Burmese Army; and the 77th Light Infantry Division of the Burmese Army.

The U.S., the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada announced sanctions against China for human rights abuses in an internationally coordinated effort to condemn China’s treatment of its Uyghur population. The sanctions, announced March 22, target officials and an entity in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region for leading the repression and detention of Muslim minorities.

Dual U.S.-Mexican citizen Jessica Johanna Oseguera Gonzalez pleaded guilty on March 12 to engaging in financial dealings with Mexican companies that had been identified as Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers, the Department of Justice announced in a press release. Oseguera Gonzalez, the daughter of Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion head Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes, aka “El Mencho,” faces a maximum of up to 30 years in prison and is set to face sentencing on June 11. She pleaded guilty to violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act by engaging in property transactions with six Mexican businesses that had been designated by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.

Florida resident Victor Mones Coro was sentenced to 55 months in prison for violating U.S. sanctions on Venezuela by chartering private flights for top Venezuelan officials, the Department of Justice said March 17. Sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Mones Coro provided millions of dollars in charter flight services to former Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami, his frontman Samark Lopez Bello, Venezuelan Supreme Court President Maikel Moreno and President Nicolas Maduro's 2018 campaign for president. The chartered flights violate the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions on the Venezuelan officials for their role in subverting democracy and proliferating authoritarianism. Mones Coro also will pay a $250,000 fine and serve two years of supervised release.

A Boston software company may have violated sanctions against U.S.-embargoed countries, it said in its March 16 Securities and Exchange Commission filing. SEMrush Holdings said it recently submitted an initial voluntary disclosure to the Office of Foreign Assets Control after identifying “customer accounts” that may involve transactions with people in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria and the Crimea region of Ukraine. The company said it plans to provide OFAC with a final report on its disclosures and has not yet received a “determination” from the agency. SEMrush said it may face penalties. A company spokesperson didn't comment.

The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control will allow for stock in Luokung Technology to be traded on U.S. exchanges until May 8, the company said in a March 11 news release. Luokung was previously designated as a Chinese military company and was scheduled for delisting on the NASDAQ on March 15. The company is fighting the designation in court, though a temporary restraining order request was dropped at Luokung's request due to the OFAC decision on March 11. Another Chinese company, Xiaomi, was recently granted a preliminary injunction over its designation (see 2103150035). Due to news of the court ruling in Xiaomi's favor, Luokung's stock shot up March 15, according to a press report on the NASDAQ website.