The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced a $4,144,651 settlement with Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. (“Berkshire”), a multinational conglomerate holding company based in Omaha Nebraska, and its foreign subsidiary, Iscar Kesici Takim Ticareti ve Imalati Limited Sirket (“Iscar Turkey”). Berkshire, on behalf of itself and its subsidiary located in Turkey, has agreed to settle its potential civil liability for 144 apparent violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations, 31 C.F.R. part 560 (ITSR). Specifically, between December 2012 and January 2016, Iscar Turkey exported 144 shipments of cutting tools and related inserts, with a total value of $383,443, to two third-party Turkish distributors knowing that such goods would be shipped to a distributor in Iran for resale to Iranian end-users, including several entities later identified as meeting the definition of the Government of Iran, which would have been prohibited if engaged in by a U.S. person, under §§ 560.203, 560.204, 560.206, and 560.208 of the ITSR. These transactions appear to have violated § 560.215 of the ITSR. OFAC determined that Berkshire voluntarily self-disclosed the apparent violations on behalf of Iscar Turkey, and that the apparent violations constitute an egregious case.
For more information, please visit the following web notice and settlement agreement.
