OFAC targets Assad regime supporters

On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control designated 16 individuals and entities associated with an international network benefiting the Assad regime. The designations were designed to cut off critical supplies and financiers for the regime’s luxury reconstruction and investment efforts. This action reinforces the United States’ commitment to imposing a financial toll on those supporting Assad’s authoritarian rule, including Syrian oligarch Samer Foz.

According to Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Sigal Mandelker, "Samer Foz, his relatives, and his business empire have leveraged the atrocities of the Syrian conflict into a profit-generating enterprise. This Syrian oligarch is directly supporting the murderous Assad regime and building luxury developments on land stolen from those fleeing his brutality."

As a result of OFAC’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated individuals and entities that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons.

For a list and identifying information for the individuals and entities designated, see BankersOnline's OFAC Update.