US Sanctions on South Sudanese Companies: The Implications for ARC.
According to the report seen by NCMP, as a result of the December 9 sanction issued by the U.S., all property and interests in property of the persons above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC.
In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by a general or specific license issued by OFAC, or otherwise exempt, all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons are prohibited.
The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any blocked person or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.
The US Department of the Treasury today sanctioned two companies linked to the sanctioned South Sudanese businessman, Benjamin Bol Mel. The sanctions were imposed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as Global Magnitsky designations, which target serious human rights abuse and corruption. On International Anti-Corruption Day, OFAC today issued sanctions on a total of fifteen individuals and entities across several countries in Central America, Africa, and Europe.
OFAC designated ARC Resources Corporation Limited (ARC Resources) and Winners Construction Company Limited (Winners) for being owned or controlled by Benjamin Bol Mel (Bol Mel), an individual included in the Annex of E.O. 13818 in December 2017. Bol Mel previously oversaw ABMC Thai-South Sudan Construction Company Limited (ABMC), which was awarded contracts worth tens of millions of dollars by the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) and allegedly received preferential treatment from high-level GoSS officials in a non-competitive process for selecting ABMC to do roadwork throughout South Sudan. ARC Resources is linked to ABMC, and has been used by senior members of GoSS for laundering money.
According to the report seen by NCMP, both ARC Resources and Winners have been used to evade sanctions and travel restrictions on Bol Mel, and have been awarded noncompetitive and substantial oil-backed contracts from the GoSS for road construction.
ARC Resources and Winners are designated pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being owned or controlled by, directly or indirectly, Bol Mel, a person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to E.O. 13818.
Bol Mel, a businessman closely tied to South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, and his sanctioned companies, ARC Resources Corporation Ltd. and Winners Construction Company Limited, were spotlighted in The Sentry’s recent alert, “Sanctioned South Sudanese Businessmen Are Skirting US Sanctions.”
OFAC today updated its Global Magnitsky sanctions listing on the Sudanese businessman known as Al-Cardinal, the focus of a major investigative report by The Sentry in 2019.
Two individuals in Zimbabwe, Leopoldino Fragoso do Nascimento and General Manuel Helder Vieira Dias (known as “Kopelipa”), were also included in the new sanctions by OFAC.
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