CRIME/RUSSIA/TREASURY: “The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday [7-20-17] imposed a $2 million fine on Exxon Mobil Corp. for what it called a ‘reckless disregard’ of U.S. sanctions on Russia while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the oil giant’s chief executive, a finding the company immediately said it would challenge.
Exxon, under Mr. Tillerson, in early 2014 deepened the company’s longstanding partnership with the Kremlin despite Washington levying sanctions against Russia for annexing Crimea and supporting pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine. In May of that year, the Treasury Department said the company signed eight documents relating to oil and gas projects in Russia that were also signed by Igor Sechin, chief executive of the state oil giant PAO Rosneft. The Treasury said Thursday those deals violated U.S. sanctions against Mr. Sechin, a former Russian intelligence officer and ally to President Vladimir Putin.
Mr. Tillerson, who had close business ties to Russia and received an ‘Order of Friendship’ award from Moscow, left Exxon last year to become U.S. secretary of state.
The $2 million fine, the Treasury said, was the maximum amount it could levy against the company.”
-Samuel Rubenfeld, Lynn Cook, and Ian Talley, “U.S. and Exxon Spar Over Russia Sanctions Violation,” The Wall Street Journal online, July 20, 2017 08:18pm