Husband, Wife Behind Sanctioned China Oil Firm Lose $1.4 Billion

Oil volatility from the Iran war had until recently lifted the fortunes of Fan Hongwei and her husband, Chen Jianhua, who together built Hengli Group into one of China’s biggest energy companies.

The couple’s gains rapidly reversed after the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned their Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery Co. for its deep ties to Iranian crude, labeling the unit “one of Iran’s largest customers for crude oil and other petroleum products.”