Treasury sanctions Libyan oil smugglers

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control has sanctioned six individuals, 24 entities, and seven vessels for the illicit production, refining, brokering, sale, purchase or export of Libyan oil.    The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned six individuals, 24 entities, and seven vessels for the illicit production, refining, brokering, sale, purchase or export of Libyan oil.
   “Oil smuggling undermines Libya’s sovereignty, fuels the black market and contributes to further instability in the region while robbing the population of resources that are rightly theirs,” OFAC said in a statement on Monday.
   The UN Security Council has condemned the illicit trade of Libyan oil. With the Treasury sanctions, any property or interest in the property of those sanctioned individuals and entities within U.S. jurisdiction is now blocked. In addition, U.S. persons or companies are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with blocked persons, including entities owned or controlled by the designated persons.
   Those sanctioned individuals include nationals from Libya, as well as Malta and Egypt. They are Darren Debono, Gordon Debono, Rodrick Grech, Fahmi Ben Khalifa, Ahmed Ibrahim Hassan Ahmed Arafa, and Terence Micallef for their involvement in the smuggling of petroleum products from Libya to Europe.
   According to OFAC, Maltese nationals Darren and Gordon Debono in 2016 formed an illegal consortium to smuggle oil from Zuwarah, Libya, to Malta and Italy in an operation that reportedly earned the group more than 30 million euros (U.S. $36.8 million). Libyan national Fahmi Ben Khalifa managed the Libya side of the fuel-smuggling operation, and Maltese national Rodrick Grech transported the Libya-originated fuel to European ports where it was sold using falsified fuel certificates, reportedly forged by Egyptian-Maltese citizen Ahmed Ibrahim Hassan Arafa, to hide the fuel’s origin. Additionally, Maltese national Terence Micallef operated a Malta-based shell company to sell the smuggled petroleum products in Europe.
   OFAC also sanctioned 21 companies owned or controlled by Darren and Gordon Debono and three others for trafficking in Libyan oil. They include Malta-based Petroplus Limited, The Business Centre Ltd., Inovest Ltd., KB Lines Ltd., Motorcycle Art Ltd., Hi-Low Properties Ltd., Eleven Eighty Eight Ltd., Malta Directories Ltd., Mr. Handyman Ltd., KB Investments Limited, Seabrass Ltd., Tara Ltd., Krakern Ltd., Gorge Ltd., S-Cape Yacht Charter Ltd., S-Cape Ltd., and Italy-based Petropark S.R.L, which are owned or controlled by Gordon Debono. OFAC also designated Malta-based Scoglitti Restaurant, Marie De Lourdes Co. Lt.d, World Water Fisheries Ltd., and Andrea Martina Ltd. for being owned or controlled by Darren Debono.
   The other Malta-based companies placed on OFAC’s sanctions list include ADJ Trading Ltd. and Oceano Blu Trading Ltd. and Libya-based Tiuboda Oil and Gas Services. ADJ Trading is also owned or controlled by Darren Debono, Fahmi Ben Khalifa and Ahmed Ibrahim Hassan Arafa.
   OFAC also blocked the vessels connected to the illicit Libyan oil smuggling operations, including Theodoros of ADJ Trading; Progres, Zeus, and Bonu 5 of Andrea Martina Ltd., and Marie De Lourdes, Marie de Lourdes I, and Marie De Lourdes V of World Water Fisheries Ltd.