Cigar Weekly

OFAC levies fines against five for buying Cuban cigars

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The U.S Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a unit of the U.S. Treasury, was especially active in July, issuing 19 penalties against entities and individuals who violated various embargo provisions, including those against Cuba.

Of the 19 actions, 14 involved Cuba and the others involved Iran, Liberia and Burma. Five fines were levied against individuals who purchased Cuban cigars via the Internet:

The largest fine was for $4,351.50 against one person who bought cigars on six occasions between July of 2003 and July, 2004. It’s one of the largest penalties handed out this year. A fine of $1,681.55 was levied for buying cigars between November 2004 and August 2006. A fine of $1,225.00 was assessed for buying Havanas four times between October 2003 and March 2004. A fine of $650.00 was imposed for two purchases between December 2004 and March 2005. A fine of $395.25 was imposed for buying Cuban cigars between December 2004 and January 2005. These actions bring the OFAC’s total Cuban-cigar-violations total to 23 separate incidents through the first seven months of the year, compared to 13 for all of 2007. The total amount of fines imposed now total $31,254.33, an average of $1,358.88 per incident. ~ Rich Perelman