November 18-22, 2024 ?? top KYC/AML/CFT headlines
1?? The EU Council extended the scope of the EU's framework of restrictive measures against Iran's military assistance to Russia with additional measures targeting the use of vessels and ports for the transfer of Iranian drones, missiles and related technology and components (Council Decision 2024/2894; Council Reg. 2024/2896; Council Reg. 2024/2897). New prohibitions on the export, transfer, supply or sale of components for the development and production of missiles and UAVs were also adopted??.
2?? US OFAC SDN blacklisted (RUSSIA-EO14024) Russia's largest remaining undesignated bank, GAZPROMBANK, as well as more than 50 internationally connected Russian banks, more than 40 Russian securities registrars, and 15 Russian financial officials . OFAC also issued an alert warning Foreign Financial Institutions about the risks of participating in Russia's financial messaging system??.
3?? UK OFSI has issued an advisory providing an overview of red flags to identify shipments of Russian origin oil and oil products that have been manipulated to appear as non-Russian through the use of fabricated or falsified certificates of origin??.
4?? A large criminal network involved in migrant smuggling, arms trafficking, document fraud, money laundering and violent crime with an estimated criminal profit of €3.4M was dismantled by EUROPOL??.
5?? Gautam Adani, chair of India’s Adani Group and one of the world’s richest people, was indicted with seven other men in New York federal court on charges related to a massive bribery and fraud scheme??.
6?? Former billionaire investor Sung Kook "Bill" Hwang was sentenced to 18 years in prison on 10 counts including wire fraud, securities fraud and market manipulation in the collapse of Archegos Capital Management, which cost Wall Street banks more than $10 billion??.
7?? BIT Mining, previously known as online sports casino 500.com paid $4M civil penalty to US-SEC and a $10M criminal fine to US-DOJ for bribing Japanese politicians in an attempt to win a bid for a resort and casino license in Japan??.
8??Former cryptocurrency executive Gary Wang, who unwittingly wrote the computer code that helped FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried steal about $8 billion from customers of the now-bankrupt exchange, was spared prison time??.
9??According to a Transparency International report, as of the end of 2022, the UK had recorded a trade surplus with the Russian Federation for the first time in decades, amid suspicions that sanctions were being circumvented through complex networks involving British limited partnerships??.