Photo: MeanieHyaena / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
The United States on Wednesday, November 4, imposed sanctions on a Chandigarh-based husband and wife and a cluster of Indian companies linked to them, accusing the network of supplying fake national flags and bogus certificates to tankers that move Iranian oil in defiance of US sanctions.
The US Treasury Department named Suniel Kumar Sharma and his wife, Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, as the people at the centre of what it called a “vast criminal network”. Two other Indian nationals, Ashwani Kumar Dhiman and Ishwinder Singh, who the department said serve as directors of the couple’s businesses on paper, were also designated.
How the alleged scheme worked
Every merchant ship has to sail under a country’s flag, which is supposed to come with inspections, crew certification and insurance. According to Treasury, the Sharma network bought web domains and set up websites that claimed to run official ship registries on behalf of countries that had never authorised them, including Aruba, Guyana, Mali, Mozambique, Malawi, Sint Maarten and Timor-Leste. These sites also offered seafarer training, certification and vessel classification.
The department said the couple’s activity goes back to at least 2014, when they tried to pose as the flag authority of Dominica. In 2023 Sharma allegedly set up a Singapore company called Eswatini Maritime Affairs and International Ship Registry, which kept flagging vessels carrying Iranian oil even after the government of Eswatini publicly disowned it. Treasury also said a false Guyana-flagged tanker carrying Iranian oil was seized by US forces on April 22 this year.
Officials warned that falsely flagged ships carry no valid protection and indemnity insurance, so an accident or spill involving one could leave coastal countries facing huge clean-up bills with no one to pay.
Who has been listed
Besides the Singapore registry, the sanctioned entities include Oceaniek Technologies India, which Treasury described as Sharma’s main vehicle for setting up fake registries, and Aryavart Ship Management. Official listings show most of the firms registered at addresses in Chandigarh and Mohali, with one boating company in Alappuzha, Kerala. The others are:
- Precept Trends Private Limited
- Polynesia Maritime Private Limited
- Alexarya Finserv Private Limited
- Alexarya Media and Entertainment Private Limited
- Viharaboating Private Limited
- Aryavart Maritime and Educational Trust
In the same action, Washington blacklisted Istanbul-based Fugo Ground Services, also known as Fugo Aviation, for providing ground handling to several sanctioned Iranian airlines that still fly to Turkey. A Russian-Tajik national, Alisher Domullodzhanov, was separately listed under Iran-related conventional arms sanctions.
We know where you are, and we will sanction those who continue supporting the Iranian regime, whether by land, sea, or air.
Scott Bessent, US Treasury Secretary
Why it matters
The move is part of “Operation Economic Outcast”, a campaign Bessent launched on August 24 to choke off the oil revenue Iran uses to fund its war with the United States. Treasury has repeatedly warned foreign companies against helping Iran’s tankers and airlines; it said Fugo began serving several Iranian carriers in the weeks after Washington sanctioned them on September 8. For India, the case is a reminder that firms based in the country can be drawn into the US enforcement drive, with Treasury saying the couple’s operations were run from Chandigarh.
What happens next
Any property the designated people and firms hold in the US, or that passes through US hands, is now frozen, and companies they own half or more of are automatically covered. American citizens and businesses are barred from dealing with them, and the listings flag a risk of secondary sanctions for foreign banks and firms that keep doing business with them. Treasury also issued a fresh alert asking shipping companies, insurers and ports to screen vessels for fake flags.
