Ground Floor, Property Number 17/9/2230, Baqi Zadeh Building, Fardus Street, Salhiyah, Damascus, Syria; First Real Estate Zone, Property Number 936, Section 2, Ground Floor, Haju Building, Abd al-Hamid al-Durubi Street, Homs, Syria; Tartus Real Estate Zone, Section 8, Property Number 3881, Revolution Street, Al-Baraniyah, Tartus, Syria; Ground Floor, Second Real Estate Zone, Sections 7-9, Property 2533, Aziziyah Falls, Baghdad Station, Aleppo, Syria

Syria-based Maya Exchange Company (Maya), alongside previously sanctioned Syrian exchanges Al-Fadel Exchange and Al-Adham Exchange, facilitated millions of dollars of illicit transactions, foreign currency transfers, and sanctions evasion schemes for the benefit of the Syrian government. In mid-2023, Maya agreed to assist Aleksey Makarov (Makarov), the Vice President of sanctioned Russian Financial Corporation Bank (RFC Bank), and Muhammad ‘Ali Al-Minala (Al-Minala) of the Central Bank of Syria (CBoS), which has also been sanctioned by the United States, with making payments to a Jordanian beneficiary and thereby obfuscating Russian involvement in the transactions. Al-Minala serves as the Head of the Foreign Operations and Communications Department within the Banking Operations Directorate at CBoS and has collaborated with Makarov on additional foreign currency transfers and sanctions evasion schemes on multiple occasions, ultimately for the benefit of CBoS. OFAC is designating Maya and Makarov pursuant to E.O. 13582 for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of, CBoS. OFAC is designating Al-Minala pursuant to E.O. 13582 for acting or purporting to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, CBoS. OFAC is also designating Maya and Makarov pursuant to the Caesar Act for being foreign persons that knowingly provided significant financial, material, or technological support to, or knowingly engaged in a significant transaction with, the Government of Syria.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2210

2024-03-26

US

Sections 7404-7438 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, Title LXXIV—Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019

OFAC country specific

Syria

Blocking Property, Suspending Entry, Trade sanctions

• https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/topic/1571 Pursuant to the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019, non-U.S. persons who knowingly provide significant financial, material, or technological support to, or knowingly engage in a significant transaction with the Government of Syria, including the CBoS, or certain other persons sanctioned with respect to Syria, risk exposure to sanctions.

It is the policy of the United States that diplomatic and coercive economic means should be utilized to compel the government of Bashar al-Assad to halt its murderous attacks on the Syrian people and to support a transition to a government in Syria that respects the rule of law, human rights, and peaceful co-existence with its neighbors.

SDN