United States sanctions Maurice and Daniel Edmundo Ortega Murillo and Chinese gold network that finances the regime
Washington accuses the regime of setting up a 'complex network of shell companies' to launder assets and finance its permanence in power through illicit gold exploitation and the confiscation of US investments.
TL;DR
- The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Maurice Facundo Ortega Murillo and Daniel Edmundo Ortega Murillo, along with seven mining companies.
- These individuals and companies are accused of operating a complex network of shell companies to launder assets and finance the Nicaraguan regime through illicit gold exploitation.
- The sanctions also target individuals involved in the mining sector, including the vice minister of Energy and Mines and operators linked to gold concessions.
- The U.S. Treasury stated that the regime has converted the gold sector into a primary funding source, using a network of shell companies since 2020 to generate foreign currency and sustain its power structure.
- The regime is accused of arbitrarily seizing facilities of a U.S. investment company, BHMB Mining Nicaragua S.A., without compensation.
- OFAC identified Eniminas, the state-owned Nicaraguan Mining Company, as playing a central role in deciding which companies get mining concessions, facilitating the transfer of profits to regime-linked actors.
- The sanctioned companies include Exportadora de Metales S.A. (EMSA), Grupo Minero Xiloá S.A., and Zhong Fu Development S.A., among others, involved in gold purchase, processing, and export.
- Washington also highlighted a pattern of replacing sanctioned companies with new entities to maintain revenue flow to the regime.
- The sanctions are part of ongoing efforts to pressure the regime following the 2018 protests.