WITH NEW owners  in place, the US Treasury Department has lifted the trade sanctions on Soho Mall on Panama's Calle 50.

The upscale mall can now move to attracting replacements for the over 50 businesses that left after sanctions were imposed.

The mall while owned by Abdul Waked was included on the Clinton List of the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) for activities related to money laundering and drug trafficking.

The removal of Soho Mall from the list was formalized Wednesday, June 14 due to the sale of the mall to a Mexican business group.

Abdul Waked, has been accused by the US of laundering money for drug cartels. The United States prohibits its citizens and companies from maintaining commercial and financial relations with listed entities.

In the last year, OFAC granted a series of licenses to allow Soho Mall access to the US market while the sale of the mall was being negotiated by a group of banking creditors.