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The U.S. Treasury Department ("Treasury") Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") added several members of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's inner circle and related entities to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List. OFAC also took action against an associate of a sanctioned member of the Maduro regime.
The additional sanctions, according to the Treasury, were a response to the Maduro regime's "corruption and gross mismanagement." The sanctions follow FinCEN advisories in August and September 2017 detailing the methods that Venezuelan senior political figures, their associates, and front persons use to move and hide corrupt proceeds.
As a result of OFAC's action, all properties and interests in property of those designated as subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked and U.S. persons are barred from participating in transactions involving these assets. In this action, OFAC identified as blocked property a $20 million U.S.-based jet as belonging to an alleged frontman for a sanctioned member of the Maduro regime.
Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin stated that the "Treasury will continue to impose a financial toll on those responsible for Venezuela's tragic decline, and the networks and front-men they use to mask their illicit wealth."
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