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Trump Denies Violating US Ban on Cash Spending in Cuba in 1998

© Photo : Raglan Road Irish BarDonald Trump Urinals are all the range in some bars in the UK.
Donald Trump Urinals are all the range in some bars in the UK. - Sputnik International
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US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has denied breaching any federal regulations on business in Cuba in 1998.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Internal records of Trump Hotels, court papers and Trump’s former executives, cited by the Newsweek magazine on Thursday, seem to show that the firm spent $68,000 illegally to do business in Cuba in 1998.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., Monday, Sept. 26, 2016. - Sputnik International
Trump Slammed for ‘Breaking’ US Cuba Embargo in 1998: Guilty, or Just Naive?

"I never did business in Cuba. There’s this guy who has very bad reputation as a reporter. You see what his record is, he wrote something about me in Cuba," Trump told NH1 broadcast on Thursday night, as quoted by Politico, stressing "No, I never did anything in Cuba. I never did a deal in Cuba."

A former executive told Newsweek on condition of anonymity that a team of business consultants was sent to the island nation in a bid to gain foothold there in case Washington loosened economic sanctions.

At that time, US citizens and corporations were not allowed to spend cash in Cuba without a license from the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) and only a foreign charity could pay their expenses.

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute's 39th Annual Gala Dinner in Washington, DC, U.S. September 15, 2016 - Sputnik International
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Instead, money for the trip was allegedly funneled through a US consulting firm called Seven Arrows that linked it to a humanitarian effort and received reimbursement from Trump Hotels the following year.

An unnamed OFAC official reportedly said there was no record of the company applying for a license, adding the chance that it would grant such a permit was "essentially zero." The magazine also claimed that Donald Trump had directly participated in discussions about the Cuba trip.

In December 2014, US President Barack Obama announced that the United States would normalize relations with Cuba after more than 50 years of non-engagement and hostilities.

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