Zyma Islam and Porimol Palma

Rab will neither be allowed to own properties in the US nor engage in transactions with anyone in the US because of the sanctions.

However, only the seven former and current high officials of Rab, who were named in Friday’s order will be restricted from entering the United States, according to an official of the US Embassy in Dhaka. Other Rab employees will not necessarily be affected by this.

The executive order 13818 to which Rab has been subjected to is titled “Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption”.

The term “person” refers to an individual or entity in the order.

“As a result of designations pursuant to the Executive Order, all of the property and interests in property within US jurisdiction of the designated individuals and entities are blocked,” said the official, “and accordingly, a US person generally may not engage in any transactions with such an entity, unless authorised by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.”

In the order, the term “United States person” means any US citizen, permanent resident, entity organised under the laws of the US or any jurisdiction within the US (including foreign branches), or any individual in the United States.

The executive order signed by former president Donald Trump in 2017 mentioned that properties of individuals or entities subjected to the sanctions cannot be transferred, exported or withdrawn.

The embassy official said that the Global Magnitsky Act, which enabled the sanction against Rab, is focused on assets of designated entities.

Currently, the named individuals on the Specially Designated Nationals list are former director general of Rab Benazir Ahmed, Director General of Rab Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, Additional Director General (operations) of Rab Khan Mohammad Azad, former additional director general (operations) of Rab Tofayel Mustafa Sorwar, former additional director general (operations) of Rab Mohammad Jahangir Alam, and former additional director general (operations) of Rab Mohammad Anwar Latif Khan.