Latvian oligarch Aivars Lembergs has been sanctioned in the US over alleged corruption, with a port company among the targeted entities.
The action by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) also includes four entities he is believed to control, including Ventspils Freeport Authority.
All his property is now blocked in the US.
Ofac said it made the move due to Lembergs, the suspended mayor of Ventspils, being "responsible for or complicit in, or directly or indirectly engaged in, corruption, including the misappropriation of state assets, the expropriation of private assets for personal gain, corruption related to government contracts or the extraction of natural resources, or bribery."
He was suspended by Latvian prosecutors and courts due to an ongoing investigation and charges of corruption and money laundering. Lembergs has denied any wrongdoing.
In 2012, TradeWinds reported that he was being pursued by tanker owner Latvian Shipping Company over more than $100m of losses allegedly suffered as a result of alleged undervalued and fraudulent charters.
A UK High Court judge ruled that year that he did not have jurisdiction to try the claims.
The company said at the time its claims were continuing.
Up to $135m of Lembergs' assets had been frozen by the English courts as the dispute over 63 charters arranged between 2003 and 2005 progressed through the courts.
