Treasury Sanctions Law Firm Behind Iran's Shadow Fleet, Lists Five People and Nine Vessels; FinCEN Subpoenas Greek Bank
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on October 21 sanctioned the Panama-based, Greece-operating law firm Karnakis and Karnakis, along with five associated individuals, three companies, and nine vessels, under Executive Order 13902, accusing the firm of spending years building a shell and front-company architecture for Iran's "shadow fleet" that concealed the true owners of vessels carrying Iranian oil, petrochemicals, and steel. The action is dubbed Operation Economic Outcast.
Treasury said the firm set up shipping companies including Skyros Maritime, Corfu Maritime, and Elias Shipping — all previously designated — and that Elias Shipping's tanker RAMONA 1 served as a front for Syria's Al-Qatirji Company, which sells Iranian oil for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps–Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and the Houthis. The firm also served as corporate agent for the shipping empire of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas magnate Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh, according to Treasury.
The designated individuals are the firm's founders and owners Sofianos Karnakis Kosmas and Konstantinos Karnakis Kosmas, who hold dual Panamanian and Greek nationality; Ioanis Karnakis Kosmas; and Pedro Ortega Jones and Roberto Ortega Jones, who served as directors or officers of companies incorporated by the firm. Roxette Maritime, for which the firm acts as corporate agent, was designated, and its seven Panama-flagged vessels — ANEMOS, GLORIS, PRIDE, DESTINY, FLAMINGO 1, HARMONY, and PRINCE — were identified as blocked property; Treasury said ANEMOS, GLORIS, and PRIDE carried Iranian petrochemicals and steel over the past year. Singapore-based Amigoz Singapore was designated for providing port services to cargoes of Iranian light crude tied to Sepehr Energy Jahan Nama Pars, for links to vessels in the Shamkhani network, and for bunkering a previously sanctioned vessel. Dubai-based Whales Shipping Line, which Treasury said acted for a sanctioned trading company that bought tens of millions of dollars of Iranian petrochemicals, was designated, and its UAE-flagged support vessels WHALES DIAMOND and WHALES PEARL were listed as blocked property.
"Whether you are conducting illegal oil transfers at sea or sitting in the corner office of a law firm, if you are supporting the Iranian regime, we will find you and sanction you," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. "Iran's facilitators must make a choice: Either you are with us or against us. We know who you are, we know what you're doing, and we will continue to take action."
Also on October 21, Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced the first administrative subpoena ever issued under section 5318(k) of the Bank Secrecy Act, advancing an investigation into a Greek bank's Iran-related dealings, and sent requests for information to six additional banks in Europe about their relationships with Iranian financial institutions already sanctioned by OFAC. State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Thomas "Tommy" Pigott issued a statement the same day saying the law firm had for years created shell companies to hide the true owners of vessels transporting Iranian oil, petrochemical products, and steel. All property of the designated parties in the United States or held or controlled by U.S. persons is blocked, and transactions with them are generally prohibited. According to Bloomberg Law, Treasury is giving the law firm's clients one month to wind down their business.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：美国财政部长 Scott Bessent 官方肖像。照片：美国财政部，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, official portrait. Photo: U.S. Department of the Treasury, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
