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Case No. VENEZUELA-EO13850-2022-950943-1
Joshua Paster
Assistant United States Attorney
United States Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Florida
99 N.E. 4th Street
Miami, FL 33132
Dear Mr. Paster:
This responds to your correspondence dated July 15, 2022, to the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) (the “Application”), requesting interpretive guidance on the applicability of General License 14, “Official Business of the United States Government” (“GL14”), now maintained under 31 C.F.R. § 591.509, as it relates to a civil-forfeiture action pending in the Southern District of Florida.
We understand based on the Application that on October 15, 2019, the United States filed a civil-forfeiture action (the “Civil Forfeiture Case”) against certain Defendant assets, including One 1999 135-Foot Baglietto Yacht, known as M/Y Blue Ice, Official Number 40146 Registered in St. Vincent and...
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1) For relevant factual background concerning related case, see comments to LICENSE No. VENEZUELA-EO13850-2019-359725-3.
2) OFAC JURISDICTION OVER IN REM LITIGATION; CIVIL FORFEITURE ACTIONS FOCUSING ON BLOCKED PROPERTY
This guidance letter is notable for the proposition that OFAC asserts jurisdiction over the mere filing, by the U.S. government (i.e. the DOJ), of a civil forfeiture action that focuses on blocked property. See generally section 3.3 of General Note Concerning Unlicensed Litigation Involving Sanctioned Persons or Property; the Question of Whether Judicial Action Constitutes the Unlicensed "Transfer" of Blocked Property (System Ed. Note) (no license is required to file a suit against a blocked person, but in rem litigation were blocked persons are defendants evidently require a license).
3) SCOPE OF THE “OFFICIAL BUSINESS”