The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned the Lex Instituto de Estudos Juridicos LTDA, a holding company for Brazilian Supreme Federal Court Judge Alexandre de Moraes, who was sanctioned earlier this year for ordering "arbitrary" pretrial detentions and suppressing freedom of expression (see 2507300031). OFAC said Moraes used the company for ownership of his residence and other residential properties. The agency also sanctioned Moraes' wife, Viviane Barci de Moraes, who served as the head of the company. They were both designated under Global Magnitsky-related human rights authorities.

ShapeShift, a defunct Swiss cryptocurrency exchange that operated out of Colorado, will pay $750,000 to the Office of Foreign Assets Control to resolve allegations that it violated sanctions against Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria. OFAC said the exchange had no sanctions compliance program and illegally allowed users in those countries to use its platform for digital asset transactions.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control last week issued a new form that it said will simplify how companies report property that has been unblocked or transferred, "easing the burden on filers and improving OFAC's processing efficiency." It said the form is optional but "strongly encouraged."

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned Los Mayos, an affiliate of the designated Sinaloa Cartel, for producing and trafficking fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana, heroin and methamphetamine from northwest Mexico into the U.S. OFAC also sanctioned five people and 15 companies aiding Los Mayos just south of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The State Department this week announced the designations of four Iran-aligned militant groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The groups -- Harakat al-Nujaba, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya and Kata’ib al-Imam Ali -- have aided Iran's military, including by planning attacks on U.S. facilities, the State Department said. "Engaging in certain transactions with them entails risk of secondary sanctions pursuant to counterterrorism authorities," it added.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned a network of people and companies that it said are helping Iran move money, sell oil and evade international sanctions. The designations target financial facilitators in Iran, as well as more than a dozen people and companies based in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates.

The Bureau of Industry and Security has removed certain export restrictions from aircraft belonging to Belavia, the state-owned flagship carrier of Belarus, as part of sanctions relief that the Trump administration has offered to the country in recent days.

Three Republican senators urged the Treasury Department Sept. 11 to place Chinese lidar company Hesai Technology on the Non-SDN Chinese Military-Industrial Complex Companies List (NS-CMIC List), which would restrict the firm’s access to U.S. public investment, including stocks.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week issued a reminder to industry to file annual reports on blocked property by Sept. 30. Holders of blocked property must provide the agency "with a comprehensive list of all blocked property held as of June 30 of the current year," it said.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control's new general license for Belavia Belarusian Airlines (see 2509110029), the state-owned flagship carrier of Belarus, was issued last week because Belarusian authorities recently released dozens of political prisoners, "demonstrating their desire to re-engage with the West," a State Department spokesperson said in an email Sept. 12.