Antwerp: World Federation of Diamond Bourses (WFDB) has announced that it implemented sanctions against the Belgian company BVBA KARDIAM, based in Antwerp.

According to the announcement published by WFDB, the company has allegedly supported “armed groups or criminal networks in the Central African Republic through the illicit mining and trade in natural resources, including diamonds and gold”.

On 21 August 2015, the American Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a division of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, added BVBA KARDIAM to the American “Specially Designated Nationals List”. This sanction entails a freezing of funds as well as prohibiting American citizens from conducting business with the entity in question.