Criminal checks

Many customers have asked us about OFAC, named for the Office of Foreign Assets Control. In this post we explore what OFAC is, what an OFAC check does, and whether it is appropriate for use in corporate employment screening.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control is part of the U. S. Treasury. It is the official body that determines whether or not an entity or individual is permitted to do business with the United States. Sanctions, first used in 1812 against Great Britain, are part of the tools used to apply financial pressure to a group. The government learned a while ago that it is easier to interfere with or track the flow of criminal funds, than to prosecute the underlying criminal activity. Witness the case of Al Capone, convicted of income tax evasion rather than murder, and the successful use of anti-racketeering laws to reduce Mafia influence.

With the events of 9/11, OFAC’s attention turned to terrorism. The desire to identify terrorists increased in the business community as a whole. And in the context of criminal background checks, the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list became more important. This is

….a list of individuals and companies owned or controlled by, […]