On 25th July, OFAC advised of 8 individuals added to its SDN list for proliferation/proliferation financing reasons. 5 entities have been added to the SDN list for the same reasons. All these individuals and entities are linked to ELECTRONICS KATRANGI TRADING (aka EKT and which has numerous alternative names and titles and addresses in Lebanon, Syria and Egypt) and said to be connected to Syria’s chemical weapons programme. They were said to be key to a network that procured electronics for the Syrian agency that develops the weapons, and a leading supplier for Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center, the agency in charge of its chemical weapons programmes.
https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20180725.aspx
US AND FRANCE TAKE CO-ORDINATED ACTION ON GLOBAL PROCUREMENT NETWORK FOR SYRIA’S CHEMICAL WEAPONS PROGRAMME
A US Treasury news release on 25th July said that, as well as the designating of 13 individuals and entities by OFAC on 25th July, the Government of France had earlier renewed an asset freeze on 24 entities and individuals from the same procurement network for providing an array of support to the Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) in Syria, so that many of the entities and individuals previously targeted by the French government will now be added to OFAC’s lists. It also says that since 2017 OFAC has been involved in a multi-agency effort to disrupt EKT’s support to the SSRC, particularly its acquisition of US-origin technology and components, and Syria’s procurement of goods for its WMD programmes. The listings include 2 former US residents (who fled the US in 2018) and those indicted by a federal court in March.
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm443
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