26 April 2005
Global Arms-Trafficking Network Designated by United States
Action leads to sanctions on individuals, entities
Several individuals and a number of companies linked to a major international arms dealer and war profiteer have been designated for sanctions by the U.S. Treasury Department.
In an April 26 news release, the department said it identified four persons and 30 companies tied to arms dealer Viktor Bout as being associated with former Liberian President Charles Taylor. Both have been targets of U.S. and international sanctions.
The individuals include Bout’s brother and senior managers and the companies of his flagship entity, Air Cess, as well as San Air and Centrafrican airlines, which played a key role in supplying arms to Taylor’s regime and a Sierra Leone rebel group, the release said.
Bout himself was designated by Treasury in July 2004 because of his association with Taylor. (See Executive Order 13348.)
The department’s action bars U.S. persons from engaging in any transactions with and freezes any assets within U.S. jurisdiction of the designated persons and entities, the release said.
The United States also is submitting the names of those individuals and companies to a sanctions committee established under U.N. Security Council Resolution 152, the department said. The resolution calls on all countries to impose sanctions on Taylor’s family members and associates who constitute a threat to peace in Liberia and West Africa.
Bout, a former Soviet air force officer, controls what is said to be the largest private fleet of cargo aircraft in the world. The arms he has provided using this fleet to rebel groups and sanctioned regimes have helped sustain conflicts in different parts of the world, including Afghanistan, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the department said.
Following is the text of the release:
(begin text)
U.S. Department of the Treasury
[Washington, D.C.]
April 26, 2005
TREASURY DESIGNATES VIKTOR BOUT’S INTERNATIONAL ARMS TRAFFICKING NETWORK
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today identified 30 companies and four individuals linked to Viktor Bout, an international arms dealer and war profiteer. Today's action took place pursuant to Executive Order 13348, which targets family members and associates of former Liberian President Charles Ghankay Taylor. Bout himself was designated under the same authority in July 2004 because of his association with Taylor.
"Our targeted sanctions are exposing and isolating the core elements of the Bout financial empire and illicit arms pipeline," said Juan Zarate, the Treasury's Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes. "The Treasury remains committed to fulfilling our international obligations to sanction the former Charles Taylor regime by taking aggressive action against Bout front companies and agents."
The U.S. is submitting the 30 companies and four individuals to a Sanctions Committee established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1521, which will consider adding them to the consolidated list of individuals and entities tied to Taylor.
This designation is the result of close coordination with the Departments of Justice and State, federal law enforcement agencies and UN officials.
"Today's announcement is an excellent example of how the Treasury's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI) works hand-in-hand with our counterparts in the U.S. Government to maximize the effectiveness of our financial tools, in this case, OFAC's [Office of Foreign Assets Control] designation authority, to isolate rogue actors," said Stuart Levey, the Treasury's Under Secretary for TFI.
Bout runs a network of air cargo companies that are based in various countries in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and the United States. Additionally, Bout controls what is reputed to be the largest private fleet of Soviet-era cargo aircraft in the world.
Shortly after the breakup of the Soviet Union, Bout, a former Soviet air force officer with a gift for languages, was able to acquire surplus or obsolete airplanes, which he used to deliver arms and ammunition from old Soviet stockpiles. The high profits he garnered supplying military equipment to rebel groups and sanctioned regimes allowed him to expand his business. Notably, information available to the U.S. Government shows that Bout profited $50 million from supplying the Taliban with military equipment when they ruled Afghanistan.
Today, Bout has the capacity to transport tanks, helicopters and weapons by the tons to virtually any point in the world. The arms he has sold or brokered has helped fuel conflicts and support U.N. sanctioned regimes in Afghanistan, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan.
The firms designated today include Bout's flagship entity, Air Cess. This company first appeared in Belgium in 1996 although it was registered in Monrovia, Liberia, with Bout as its head. Other key major firms in the network include Centrafrican Airlines, San Air General Trading, Air Bas, CET Aviation, Irbis, Transavia Travel, and Santa Cruz Imperial. San Air and Centrafrican played a key role in supplying arms to Charles Taylor's regime in Liberia and the Sierra Leone rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). In exchange for these supplies, Bout received payment from the Liberia's international ship registry as well as diamonds and other valuable commodities acquired illegally by Taylor's associates and the RUF.
Individuals named today include Bout's older brother Sergei, two senior Bout managers –- Serguei Denissenko and Valeriy Naydo -– and Bout's U.S.-based chief financial officer, Richard Chichakli.
Today's action prohibits any transactions between U.S. persons and the designated entities and also freezes any assets of the designated persons that are within U.S. jurisdiction.
The 34 new names bring the total number of individuals and entities designated under E.O. 13348 thus far to 62. For a complete list of entities designated today, please visit: http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/actions/20050426.shtml.
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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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