Martha Carolina Recinos De Bernal (Recinos) was the head of a multiple-ministry, multi-million dollar corruption scheme involving suspicious procurements in the construction of a hospital, in addition to directing various government ministers to authorize several suspicious pandemic-related purchases, including millions of dollars in surgical masks and millions more on hospital gowns from companies with no apparent ties to the healthcare or manufacturing industries. As of summer 2021, Salvadoran officials awarded millions of dollars in inflated contracts related to the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which in turn allowed for kickbacks to Salvadoran government officials and some of President Bukele’s advisors. Relatedly, Bukele administration officials, including Chief of Cabinet Recinos, reportedly resold donated personal protective equipment and other medical aid at significant markups for their personal benefit.
Additionally, Recinos also directed a corruption scheme in which government-purchased food baskets intended for COVID-19 relief were diverted for the use of specific Nuevas Ideas candidates to garner support in the February 2021 municipal and legislative elections. Instead of delivering the items as a service from the government, the food baskets were used to obtain votes and support in the lead up to the elections.
Recinos is designated pursuant to E.O. 13818 for being a foreign person who is a current or former government official, or person acting for or on behalf of such an official, who is responsible for or complicit in, or has directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery.
On December 23, 2016, the President signed the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (Pub. L. 114-328, Title XII, Subtitle F) (the “Act”) into law. The Act authorized the President to impose targeted sanctions on any foreign person the President determines is, among other things, responsible for extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights, or a government official, or a senior associate of such an official, responsible for, or complicit in, ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing, acts of significant corruption.
On December 20, 2017, the President, invoking the authority of, inter alia, the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706) (IEEPA), issued Executive Order 13818 (82 FR 60839, December 26, 2017) (E.O. 13818), effective at 12:01 a.m. eastern standard time on December 21, 2017.
In E.O. 13818, the President determined that serious human rights abuse and corruption around the world constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States and declared a national emergency to deal with that threat.
OFAC is issuing the Global Magnitsky Sanctions Regulations, 31 CFR part 583 (the “Regulations”), to implement the Act and E.O. 13818, pursuant to authorities delegated to the Secretary of the Treasury in E.O. 13818. A copy of E.O. 13818 appears in appendix A to this part.
