Scenario: Sanctioned Counterparty in a Payment Workflow
A step-by-step walkthrough of the sanctioned-counterparty scenario in an agent payment workflow.
The setup
Your agent settles supplier invoices on USDC via x402. A supplier account is added to the workflow; its wallet is on the OFAC SDN list. The agent sees "pay invoice #4021".
Without screening
- The agent signs the transfer — confirmed in ~12 seconds
- The liability attaches the moment it settles
- Civil penalty exposure starts at $356,000 per violation
With screening in place
- The agent calls the screening API before signing
- The wallet matches OFAC_SDN (wallet_exact, confidence 1.0)
- The agent returns BLOCK — the transfer never signs
- The result is logged for the audit trail
The takeaway
One call before signing turns a $356,000 event into a logged block. The checker runs the same screen for free.