The Daily Journal.— The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Bluwaves Properties Limited, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) List.
The company belongs to Harry Sargeant III, a Florida energy magnate who has long served as a channel between Washington and Caracas.
According to OFAC’s update, the agency added Bluwaves Properties Limited to the list under Executive Order 13850, which the United States uses to impose sanctions related to the situation in Venezuela.
The company was incorporated on March 5, 2021, and holds registration number 2056404 in the British Virgin Islands.
Its addition to the SDN List means that U.S. authorities block any property and interests in property that the entity holds in the United States or that fall under the control of U.S. persons. In general, U.S. persons also cannot conduct transactions with the designated entity.
According to Bloomberg, Harry Sargeant III signed a $300 million agreement last Friday to sell the offshore company through which he held a minority stake in North American Blue Energy Partner. The buyer reportedly has ties to Venezuelan businessman Alejandro Betancourt, the company’s majority shareholder.
According to the financial news outlet, the Trump administration had placed Sargeant under intense pressure to give up his stake in the company. The Treasury Department had previously frozen Bluewave Properties’ assets, and a subsequent license allowed Sargeant to divest his interests in the firm.
