On June 15, 2018, the US Department of the Treasury sanctioned 14 companies affiliated with Israeli businessman Dan Gertler, pursuant to Executive Order 13818 against serious human rights abuses and corruption around the world

The US Treasury sanctioned Gertler in December 2017 for amassing a fortune ”through hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of opaque and corrupt mining and oil deals” in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). According to the designation statement, “Gertler has used his close friendship with DRC President Joseph Kabila to act as a middleman for mining asset sales in the DRC, requiring some multinational companies to go through Gertler to do business with the Congolese state.”

The 14 new companies designated in June 2018 are located in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Netherlands, the British Virgin Islands (BVI), and Switzerland. The Gertler-related companies sanctioned earlier in December 2017 are in Israel, the DRC, the BVI, the Cayman Islands, the Netherlands, Canada, and Gibraltar.