OFAC Sanctions CAR Companies Tied to Wagner Group

The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned two companies in the Central African Republic linked to the Wagner Group, the designated private Russian military organization. The sanctions target Mining Industries SARLU and Logistique Economique Etrangere SARLU for “enabling Wagner Group security operations and Wagner Group-linked illicit mining endeavors” in the CAR, OFAC said.

The agency said the Wagner Group’s chief logistician, Valery Chekalov, who died last year, used Mining Industries SARLU to lease aircraft from Kratol Aviation (Kratol), a United Arab Emirates-based and U.S.-sanctioned aviation company. OFAC said Logistique received “hundreds of shipments of heavy materials” from Russia-based Limited Liability Company Broker Expert, a company that has “supported Russian interests in Ukraine and throughout Africa.”

The agency previously sanctioned Logistique in September for its links to Russia, and is now redesignating the company for aiding Broker Expert.