Take a gander at this headline of a company press release today:

WWA Group Receives Cautionary Letter from Office of Foreign Assets Control

Yes, that’s right, the WWA Group, a global heavy equipment auctioneer, is trumpeting to the world that it received a “cautionary letter” from OFAC. You’d think that they had received a billion dollar government contract from the Department of Defense but, no, the cause for high fives and a happy dance is a “cautionary letter.” Either WWA Groups thinks it just dodged a bullet (or, perhaps, a thermonuclear device) or it was an extraordinarily slow news day in the WWA Group cubicles in Austin.

Maybe they did dodge a bullet. A statement in the company’s 2007 annual report reveals more about the nature of the company’s brouhaha with OFAC:

The U.S State Department and the U.S. Treasury Department of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) have identified Iran, Sudan and Syria as state sponsors of terrorism, and forbid the sale of goods or services by U.S. persons or companies to these countries or to agents of the respective governments of these countries.

On April 27, 2007 WWA Group received a “cease and desist” order from OFAC proscribing the sale of equipment or services, or facilitating the sale of equipment or services to persons with registered addresses in Iran, Syria or Sudan. WWA Group has never sold equipment at auction or delivered equipment to countries or to agents of the respective governments of these countries which OFAC has identified as state sponsors of terrorism However, we have in the past sold equipment to private individuals or companies resident in Iran, Sudan or Syria who may have, on their own accord, exported such purchased equipment to their countries of residence.

If WWA Group got just a cautionary letter in such a circumstance, perhaps they do have the right to break out the champagne and alert the press. Because frankly the defense that they sold stuff to Iranians but were shocked, shocked to learn that the equipment wound up in Iran was, frankly, a flea-bitten dog of an argument. Now whether OFAC is happy that WWA Group is telling the whole world it got a pass in this case is a different matter.

[h/t to Michael Mellen, who is in the office next to mine, for sighting this press release.]

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