US sanctions Karnakis and Karnakis over alleged support for Iranian shipping
The Treasury Department accused the Panama- and Greece-based law firm of registering companies linked to Iranian shipping. US financial investigators also sought information from European banks.
The US Treasury Department sanctioned Panama- and Greece-based law firm Karnakis and Karnakis on 21 October, according to Reuters, saying the firm had supported Iranian shipping for years. The move targets a business Treasury says helped provide the corporate structures behind vessels carrying Iranian goods.
FinCEN, the Treasury’s financial crimes agency, also issued an administrative subpoena to advance an investigation into a Greek bank over potential ties to Iran, Reuters reported. Treasury did not name the bank. FinCEN separately requested information from six other European banks about their relationships with Iranian financial institutions under US sanctions. Those requests are investigative steps; Reuters did not report findings against the banks.
Treasury’s allegations against the law firm
Treasury accused Karnakis and Karnakis of registering shipping companies that own vessels in Iran’s so-called shadow fleet, Al-Monitor reported. The department said those vessels had transported hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian steel, petroleum, petrochemicals and other goods. The alleged role of the firm concerns company registration, rather than an accusation that its lawyers operated the ships themselves.
Among the companies the firm established was an alleged front for the Al-Qatirji Company, according to Al-Monitor’s account of Treasury’s announcement. Treasury described the Syrian company as responsible for selling millions of barrels of Iranian oil for the benefit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force and Yemen’s Houthi rebels. These are US allegations about the companies’ roles.
Al-Monitor identified the law firm’s founders and owners as Sofianos Karnakis Kosmas and Konstantinos Karnakis Kosmas, both dual Panamanian-Greek nationals. The firm’s website describes its practice as maritime and commercial law, the outlet reported. That specialization helps explain why Treasury focused on a legal services business in a shipping sanctions action.
Other shipping agents sanctioned
Treasury also sanctioned shipping agents based in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, accusing them of supporting the shadow fleet, Al-Monitor reported. The department said that fleet had carried millions of barrels of crude oil, petroleum and petrochemical products to buyers, primarily in South and East Asia. The law firm’s designation was therefore part of a wider action aimed at services used by Iranian shipping.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement quoted by Al-Monitor: ‘Whether you are conducting illegal oil transfers at sea or sitting in the corner office of a law firm, if you are supporting the Iranian regime, we will find you and sanction you.’ His remarks framed legal and corporate services alongside shipping operations as targets of the US action.
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Sources and context
- US imposes sanctions on Greek, Panama law firm for helping Iran shippingReuters, republished by Al-Monitor
- US sanctions law firm based in Panama, Greece over Iran shipping tiesAl-Monitor
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.