$9.4 Million Penalty for Violations with OFAC & BIS
With over 100 violations, Alcon Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (of Fribourg, Switzerland) and Alcon Laboratories (Dallas/Fort Worth, TX) have agreed to pay a total of $9.4 million in penalties to settle charges that it violated U.S. economic sanctions and export controls by engaging in the sale and exportation of medical end-use surgical and pharmaceutical products from the U.S. to distributors in Iran and Sudan without the required authorization.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) states that the statutory maximum civil monetary penalty amount for the sanctions violations was $138,982,584 and that the base penalty amount was $16,927,000.
While the settlement amount for the OFAC penalty is $7.62 million, OFAC states that the company’s obligation to pay this amount will be satisfied by its payment of an $8.1 million penalty to the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) and a $1.32 million payment to the Treasury Department. The company’s failure to pay these amounts in a full and timely manner may result in the suspension of its export privileges for one year.
To read the details of the charges and penalties: BIS & OFAC
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