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U.S. Fines 86 Firms for Business With Nations on `Enemies' List

(1:21 AM ET)
Wednesday, July 03, 2002
Dow Jones & Company



Wall Street Journal Staff Reporter Stephanie M. Horvath contributed to this report.



The administration began releasing information on illegal trading this March after being sued under the Freedom of Information Act by Public Citizen and the Corporate Crime Reporter, a newsletter that earlier reported these settlements. Treasury is planning to make such settlements public on a regular basis.

WASHINGTON -- DJ&Co
The U.S. government disclosed it has fined 86 companies, including Ikea, CNA Insurance Cos. and the Los Angeles Dodgers, for violating a law that bars companies from doing business with an "enemies" list of nations that includes Iran, Iraq, Cuba and North Korea, Wednesday's Wall Street Journal reported.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control released a list of 115 fines totaling $5.8 million for violations of the Trading With The Enemy Act dating back to 1998. The list adds to information it disclosed in March, but doesn't include all fines during the period.

In the case of the Dodgers, the professional baseball team reached a $75,000 settlement in 1999 with OFAC for signing two Cuban players. Patrick Courtney, a spokesman for Major League Baseball, said the players joined the Dodgers' organization in the Dominican Republic and claimed to be citizens of that Caribbean nation.

Mr. Courtney said when the matter came to light, the players, whom he didn't identify, were declared free agents and the Los Angeles club was fined.
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Dan