Amazon and the United States Government reached an agreement this Wednesday that the company will pay 134,523 dollars as a penalty for having bypassed the prohibitions on maintaining commercial ties with various countries and diplomatic entities, including the Cuban embassy.
The company based in Seattle, the United States, provided its services and sold its products to people who were in countries or regions with which the government prohibits maintaining commercial ties without prior authorization, or with people employed by embassies of these countries.
According to a Department of the Treasury release, Amazon sold to individuals in Iran, Syria and Crimea (annexed by Russia) and to others who were employed by the embassies of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan and Syria, despite such operations being prohibited with all of them.
Given these violations of the law, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (dependent on the Treasury) and the firm that Jeff Bezos leads started conversations that finally resulted this Wednesday in the agreement by which Amazon will pay the government 134,523 dollars.
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According to what the Treasury has pointed out, Amazon’s sales to these individuals would not have occurred with the clear intention of breaking the law, but as a consequence of “deficiencies related to Amazon’s sanctions screening processes.”
The “amount reflects OFAC’s determination that Amazon’s apparent violations were non-egregious and voluntarily self-disclosed,” the U.S. Treasury indicated.
The United States maintains a list of individuals, regions, and countries with which American companies are prohibited to maintain business ties unless express government permission is obtained.
That list includes countries, regions, and governments that Washington considers to be contrary to U.S. interests, as well as terrorist organizations, drug traffickers, and individuals who allegedly are involved in activities dedicated to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
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