U.S.Treasury letter of warning

[RUJohnny99-cl]

This website gives some advice, mostly geared to travel to Cuba. However, do-it-yourself legal work is suicidal at best.

Here's their recommended letter.

[DATE]

R. Richard Newcomb, Director
Office of Foreign Assets Control
U.S. Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20220

Re: Prepenalty Notices to [INSERT YOUR NAME]FAC No. CU-[INSERT "CU" NUMBER FROM LETTER RECEIVED FROM OFAC]

Dear Mr. Newcomb:

This letter is in response to the above-referenced Prepenalty Notice dated [INSERT DATE OF PREPENALTY NOTICE], which was received on [INSERT DATE NOTICE RECEIVED].

I deny each and every allegation in the prepenalty notice and request an agency hearing in Washington, D.C. with respect to the imposition of any penalty.

In connection with our above hearing request, I submit the following pre-hearing discovery request:

1. All documents in your files pertaining to this matter, including, but not necessarily limited to: Any records or evidence of the allegations made in the prepenalty notice;

2. Any correspondence or communications received from members of Congress within the past year which are related to OFAC’s enforcement of regulations pertaining to Cuba and OFAC’s response to said correspondence or communications;

3. A summary of penalties assessed and/or collected from Cuban Americans in the past five years for violation of the regulations limiting such persons to one family emergency trip to Cuba per year; and

4. A summary of penalties collected from persons subject to OFAC regulations pertaining to Cuba other than Cuban Americans in last five years.

This discovery request in ongoing, and will be supplemented from time to time as needed.


Signed_______________________________

[Vince]

Thanks for all the help, I did speak with a member of the bar, ( no not the local bar a real life lawyer) , statute of limitations is 2 years this is a 3 year old action, & the letter is a warning , dont do it again. ........... that might be a little late in getting to me , but now I have suspended ALL internet cigar buying from all points ........ so far anyhow, but some of the daily specials & weekend specials are hard to pass up !! Enjoy, Vince

[N2Advnture-cl]

FYI - The statue of limitations is 5 years on this

[Paint]

Maybe they thought they were steroids.

[tobacmon]

Originally Posted by N2Advnture

FYI - The statue of limitations is 5 years on this

Thanks Mark---

[Shelby07]

Don't call and act innocent or stupid... they hear that all day long. They will probably go after the ones who try to call and weasel their way out of it. And don't ignore it hoping it will go away. If they say to respond, then they will follow up eventually if they don't hear from you. No one here is in your position. Don't count on anything you see or read here as any more than opinion. No one here knows how to handle this. The best thing you can do is spend a couple more bucks and consult with a lawyer.

[jim@mindofmen.com]

Originally Posted by RUJohnny99

This website gives some advice, mostly geared to travel to Cuba. However, do-it-yourself legal work is suicidal at best.

I'd be really careful using the advice on this website. Some if it is definitely out of date. For one, the latest cuban travel statistics for Americans they cite is 2002 - over five years ago.

Secondly, you can no longer use a Drivers License/Birth Certificate to go to Canada, Mexico, etc. You must use a U.S. Passport for all international travel.

Third, the promise that a Cuban official won't stamp your passport is not good enough for me. All that you need to do is get one guy who decides not to honor this and drops a cuban stamp in your passport. At that point, you are officially hosed. If you travel internationally, you may have noticed how the immigration guys here in the U.S. flip through your passport when you enter the U.S., right? All that they need to see is that Cuban stamp and you are going to be having a few meetings with people who have no sense of humor.

You could get flagged and get the third degree from Immigration each time you travel even if you do escape formal charges or fines.

I know that many Americans do take the chance, but keep in mind that the Department of Homeland Security is not a group to take lightly. I'd love to see Cuba myself, but no way am I going to run the risk.

My .02

[Vince]

Thanks for all input from all of you , right now i am just going to smoke what in have in the humidors & stop buying "Imported" cigars from HongKong I have a lot ot smoke right now, but all domestic brands I have in the shop, , but from where I live its just a quick trip north to nigra falls , smoke them there & dont bring any home with me ! , a gooooood day trip. !!