Havana, February 26 (RHC)-- The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control levied a 44-thousand-dollar fine against the California-based metal recycling company Tung Tai Group for doing business with Cuba, after considering it a violation of the over-50-year economic, commercial and financial blockade of the island.

According to the Cuban news agency, a statement issued by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) accused Tung Tai Group of having purchased scrap metal in Cuba in August 2010.

This is not the first time that the U.S. agency fines a company for doing transactions with Cuba, since Washington chases down all Cuban commercial and financial transactions. Last July, Great Western Maltin Company, based in the U.S. state of Washington, was fined 1.35 million dollars for “unauthorized commercial operations” with Cuba.

In 2012, the OFAC also fined Holland’s ING Bank for a total of 619 million dollars for having carried out financial and commercial transactions with Cuba, with a joint action with its subsidiaries in France, Belgium and Curacao.

In December 2012, the U.S. agency also imposed a fine on the London-based Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC Holdings). The fine amounted to 375 million dollars for the alleged violation of U.S. unilateral sanctions on several countries, including Cuba.

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