The violations could have led to a maximum penalty of over $1 billion, but the OFC levied the far lower amount due to several “mitigating factors,” which were said to include reporting the violations, launching an investigation and taking steps to prevent similar violations in the future.
The OFC noted that some of the orders processed were for “personal security products on behalf of persons located at the Iranian embassies in Tokyo, Japan, and in Brussels, Belgium.”
The OFC administers and enforces sanctions on a list of dozens of countries, companies and individuals. Sanctions have been imposed for a host of allegations including human rights violations, terrorism, drug trafficking and illegal arms trading.
Last year, Apple agreed to pay about $467,000 in an OFAC settlement over alleged dealings with a blacklisted Slovenian app development company. Apple’s violation reportedly took place because the company’s sanction-screening software failed to flag the sanctioned company.
