MIAMI – Feb. 28, 2017 – Diaz, Reus & Targ, LLP has been informed that as of Feb. 23, 2017 its client, Mexican citizen and businessman John Fredy Cuellar Silva, has been formally removed from the United States Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list based on the firm’s efforts in filing legal remedies against the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC.
In defending Cuellar Silva, the firm was able to show that the U.S. government had not met its burden of proof that Cuellar Silva was linked to Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán as a partner and financial front-man. El Chapo is considered the “most powerful drug trafficker in the world” by the U.S. Department of Treasury.
“When we were first retained to help Mr. Cuellar Silva, I was doubtful that we could prevail due to his and his family’s alleged ties to Chapo Guzman,” said Robert I. Targ, Diaz Reus partner and lead attorney. “So, this is truly a great result.”
“This was an especially difficult and sensitive matter,” added Global Managing Partner, Michael Diaz, Jr.
Individuals and companies removed from the SDN list appear on the OFAC website and notice is published in the Federal Register, an official publication of the U.S. government. All property and interests, which had been blocked solely due to Cuellar Silva’s designation as a Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficker, are now unblocked, and he and his company are permitted to engage in any lawful transactions involving U.S. persons.
Diaz Reus offers a global practice centered around national and international parallel proceedings and transactions in sovereign trade, commerce, and finance; fraud, civil litigation and arbitration; asset identification, location, tracing, and recovery; white collar crime, regulatory, and criminal investigations and defense in corruption, bribery, money laundering, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, OFAC, Specially Designated Nationals, and the Bank Secrecy Act; and politically sensitive investigations including the recovery of U.S. immigration status and visas. www.diazreus.com.
Contact Robert I. Targ, Diaz Reus Partner at rtarg@diazreus.com (305) 375-9220 for more information.
