OFAC goes after Cuba-bound travelers, buyers of banned Cuban cigars online.
Nobody--from high-school students to affluent cigar-smokers and even prominent filmmakers--is above the law when it comes to buying Cuban products or traveling to the forbidden island without express government permission.That's the message the Bush administration wants to get out, via the new hardline regulations now being enforced by the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The latest victim of OFAC's tough new policy is Michael Moore, who took a group of sick 9/11 rescue workers to Cuba to receive medical treatment earlier this year.
The February 2007 trip was part of an upcoming documentary Moore made on America's troubled health-care system entitled "SiCKO."
On May 2, OFAC sent Moore a "Request for Further Information" (RFI) letter, asking for details on his trip to check for possible violations of the travel ban.
Moore questioned the timing of OFAC's investigation, since his film had just premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and is scheduled for a U.S. theatrical release on Jun. 29.
"I'm the one who's personally being investigated and I'm the one who's personally liable for potential fines or jail, so I don't take it lightly," Moore told reporters at the Cannes screening.
The director of the highly acclaimed documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11"--never lacking a flair for the dramatic--told CNN that he hid a copy of his film in a "safe house" outside the U.S. to shield it from government interference.
In its RFI letter, OFAC acknowledged that it had received an application from Moore last October to visit Cuba as a journalist, but that it still hadn't issued a response when Moore took it upon himself to bring the 9/11 group to Cuba without the necessary permission.
That letter is also asking for the names and addresses of those who accompanied him, the reason for that trip and an itinerary, as well as the exact travel dates and point of departure.
"As is our policy, we do not confirm or deny the existence of a designation," said Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise, responding to a CubaNews inquiry by e-mail.
Not to be dissuaded, Moore and the company that's distributing his SiCKO film, the Weinstein Co., are swinging back at OFAC.
High-powered attorney David Boies has already sent OFAC a Freedom of Information Act request for whatever documents it has regarding its investigation on Moore.
Boies was the lawyer who conducted oral arguments for Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore in front of the Supreme Court during the ballot recount battle after the 2000 presidential elections.
Moore's spokeswoman, Lisa Cohen, emailed CubaNews the following statement from SiCKO producer Meghan O'Hara regarding the latest snafu:
"The New York Post indicated that the Bush administration is investigating the 9/11 workers featured in 'SiCKO' for getting medical attention," she told us. "While we have known since receiving the Treasury Department's letter notifying us that Michael Moore and the film were being investigated, this is the first time that we are aware of the Bush administration indicating that they are specifically targeting the 9/11 workers.
"If what the Post reported is accurate--the Bush administration's investigation of these 9/11 heroes for being treated for serious injuries incurred at Ground Zero after the administration had abandoned these very same workers--it shocks the conscience."
O'Hara continued: "Given that these 9/11 workers traveled to Cuba as an essential component of the SiCKO documentary filmmaking process, the reported investigation of these workers makes clear for all to see that the Bush administration is abusing the investigative powers of the federal government for political purposes."
OFAC GOES AFTER N.Y. HISTORY CLASS
In addition to OFAC's pursuit of Moore and the rescue workers, a New York history teacher and 12 students have also found themselves being targeted by OFAC.
Nathan Turner of the Beacon School and his students made an unlicensed trip to Cuba earlier this year, and were later hit with threatening penalty letters.
The school's run-in with OFAC made the front page of the New York Post in April, and other local papers covered the controversy as well. The group is also under investigation by local school officials.
When CubaNews phoned the school for comment, principal Ruth Lacey curtly said I'm not discussing it" and hung up on us.
No one's disputing that the high-schoolers and their teacher made an unlicensed trip to Cuba. The problem is that any educational exemptions to the Cuba travel ban are for university students only--not high-school kids.
That said, it appears OFAC wants to make an example out of the Beacon Schol by imposing hefty fines.
However, some question the severity of such penalties.
"I think that's egregious," said attorney Robert White of Bourgeois Dresser & White in Worcester, Mass., "given that the fines normally threatened by OFAC run between $7,500 and $10,000."
Treasury's Millerwise, who wouldn't comment on the Michael Moore case, won't comment on the Beacon School either. However, OFAC may very well extend its investigation of the school, whose own website contains photos of a 2005 trip that Beacon School students took to Havana.
WARNING TO SCHOOL: DON'T DO IT AGAIN
The pictures show the kids attending a pro-government rally at Havana's Plaza de la Revolucion, visiting the Latin American School of Medicine and stopping over at the airport in Cancun, Mexico.
According to a New York Times story, one of the students participating in the 2005 trip was Ashley Dennis, the stepdaughter of current New York Lt. Gov. David Patterson.
In addition, the New York Sun noted that the school's assistant principal, Harry Streep III--who happens to be actress Meryl Streep's brother--was stopped by U.S. Customs in Houston when he and his students returned from a May 2001 trip to Cuba, and was warned not to violate the travel ban again.
White says OFAC can act against the Beacon School for previous trips because "there's a 3-year statute of limitations" which would certainly cover the school's 2005 Cuba visit.
CIGAR CRIMINALS
OFAC is also cracking down on illicit U.S. purchases of Cuban cigars.
Marvin Shanken, publisher of Cigar Aficionado, commented recently that some of his readers and visitors to the magazine's website have been receiving RFI letters from OFAC.
These letters demand information about selected purchases from cigar shops overseas--outside the jurisdiction of U.S. law--to see if the purchases involved Cuban cigars.
As Shanken noted, the letters are rather intimidating, with penalties including up to 10 years in prison, $1 million in corporate fines or $250,000 in individual fines. Along with that, civil fines of $65,000 per violation can also be imposed.
This is apparently a new tactic to discourage U.S. consumption of Cuban cigars.
Up until recently, recipients of RFI letters were usually individuals and groups suspected of conducting unlicensed travel to Cuba.
We asked Gordon Mott, executive editor of Cigar Aficionado, whether OFAC's anti-Cuba dragnet was singling out specific cigar shops.
"In the letter I saw, there was no specific mention of the store," Mott told CubaNews in an e-mail. "What I can tell you is that given the context of that letter, which in so many words asked the target to explain why he had made purchases of cigars at a Hong Kong retail outlet in 2006, I can't explain any other enforcement tactic other than perusal of credit-card receipts.
"And, again, based on my assumptions, that would only take place if there was some coordination under the Patriot Act, giving the government access to that kind of information. But Treasury refused to confirm or deny such a tactic, saying simply they were not at liberty to discuss any investigative techniques."
Mott added: "I am still considering an FOI request to track it down, but haven't gotten around to it yet."
Asked how OFAC gained access to information on alleged U.S. purchases of Cuban cigars abroad, such as credit-card records, Miller-wise would only tell us "we do not discuss law-enforcement techniques."
WHITE: HOW DID OFAC GET ITS INFORMATION?
But Robert White doesn't mind discussing these things.
In addition to representing Americans scrutinized for unlicensed travel to Cuba, the Worcester, Mass., lawyer has also defended U.S. cigar smokers investigated by OFAC.
During a recent phone interview with CubaNews, White insisted OFAC is going too far in cracking down on U.S. consumption of Cuban cigars.
"Like those who have received RFI letters over travel to Cuba, there's a Fifth Amendment defense, demanding that the recipients of these letters incriminate themselves in a short period," said White, referring to the 20-day response time given to RFI recipients.
White doubts overseas cigar shops would voluntarily submit credit-card or other information on transactions involving Cuban cigars bought by U.S. smokers.
"How did they get the information, and did they get it lawfully?" he asks. "There's also the Fourth Amendment issue that relates to credit card records. Was it done legally? Was the Patriot Act involved in getting such records?"
White suggested that OFAC is in fact relying on credit-card records involving U.S. point-of-sale purchases from overseas cigar shops and transactions with PayPal and various online foreign vendors known to carry Cuban cigars.
White's clients are being scrutinized over purchases made from late 2002 to early 2004. He mentions one overseas vendor cited by an OFAC inquiry, FinestCuban-Cigars.com, whose front page proudly declares that it ships Cuban cigars "from tax-free Hong Kong."
That site, though, also sells non-Cuban products, such as humidors, fancy light-ers, and $420 ashtrays that are costlier than some of the cigars on that site, not to mention a Dupont humidor for $2,200.
White said OFAC has managed to scare up settlement payments from smokers who have received RFI letters but failed to secure competent legal assistance.
"There are some cases where these individuals have settled," he told us. "One did for $6,000, another for $800." White said other cigar-smokers who have received such letters have handled the problem differently.
"People have refused to reply. Some have thrown them away," he said. "Some have taken the full constitutional approach."
Yet according to White, the number of Americans who've gotten RFI letters over Cuban cigar purchases is still limited. "I'd be surprised if it's in excess of 100," he said. "It would be pretty difficult for OFAC to prosecute 20,000 Americans."
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| Title Annotation: | Office of Foreign Assets Control |
|---|---|
| Author: | Echevarria, Vito |
| Publication: | CubaNews |
| Geographic Code: | 5CUBA |
| Date: | Jun 1, 2007 |
| Words: | 1716 |
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