Day: July 10, 2020

A post from Thomson Reuters on 10 July referred to an internal memo from the FBI in May which says that the FBI believes firms in the nearly $10-trillion private investment funds industry are being used as vehicles for laundering money at scale.  It says that “Threat actors” – including criminals in it for the money and foreign adversaries – “use the private placement of funds, including investments offered by hedge funds and private equity firms” to reintegrate dirty money into the legitimate global financial system, and the industry lacks adequate AML programmes and called for greater scrutiny by regulators. It cites 4 cases of planned or reported laundering operations, involving hundreds of millions of dollars, utilising private funds.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tj3EvnajLjSiFJuoS0Zu-jkkB9cDY-vJ/view

https://blueleaks.io/jric/files/DDF/200501%20LES%20FBI%20Intelligence%20Bulletin%20-%20Threat%20Actors%20Likely%20Use%20Private%20Investment%20Funds%20to%20Launder%20Money%2C%20Circumventing%20Regulatory%20Tripwires.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 10 July, the Belfast Telegraph reported that security company G4S is to pay more than £44 million after it “repeatedly lied” to the Government over electronic-tagging contracts, following investigations by the SFO, and under a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) settlement deal relating to the investigation, which started in 2013.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/g4s-to-pay-out-44m-to-settle-electronic-tagging-fraud-case-39357878.html

 

 

 

 

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On 2 July, Transparency International published an article about a new website from the OCCRP which features highly revealing social media-style profiles of the country’s military and political elite. It shows them partying in St. Barts, living at Caribbean resorts and owning luxury properties in Miami. Transparency International points out that the lack of a requirement to disclose beneficial owner makes it easier for rich Venezuelans to “hide” behind US corporations etc.

The OCCRP website is at –

https://elfeis.occrp.org/projects/caribe/

https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/despite-sanctions-venezuela-corrupt-reach-united-states-anonymous-companies

 

 

 

 

 

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On 10 July, the UN Office of Drugs and Crime released this report, saying that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that wildlife crime is a threat not only to the environment and biodiversity, but also to human health. It points out that zoonotic diseases represent up to 75% of all emerging infectious diseases and include SARS-CoV-2 that caused the COVID-19 pandemic.  The report draws heavily on UNODC’s World WISE database, which contains almost 180,000 seizures from 149 countries and territories. The database shows that nearly 6,000 species have been seized between 1999-2019, including not only mammals but reptiles, corals, birds, and fish. It also says that, like many other markets, trade in wildlife and wildlife products have also expanded into the digital sphere; and argues the need for stronger criminal justice systems focusing on improving legal frameworks and strengthening the prosecutorial and judicial process.

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/press/releases/2020/July/unodc-world-wildlife-crime-report-2020_-the-covid-19-pandemic-has-shown-that-wildlife-crime-is-a-threat-not-only-to-the-environment-and-biodiversity–but-also-to-human-health.html

https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/wildlife/2020/World_Wildlife_Report_2020_9July.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 10 July, HMRC released guidance on procedures from 1 January – note, however, that the guidance actually covers movements between Great Britian (GB) and the EU – Great Britain is England, Wales and Scotland.  It is said that guidance on moving goods into, out of and through Northern Ireland will be added to GOV.UK in the coming weeks. On the same date, the Home Office published a news release concerned with licences, certificates and special rules for bringing goods into the UK from 1 January, and covering animals, plants, food and agricultural products, drugs, chemicals and waste. Also on 10 July, the Department for International Trade published information on licences, certificates and special rules for taking goods out of the UK from 1 January – for animals, plants, food and agricultural products, chemicals and waste, controlled goods (e.g. military, dual-use, torture equipment), diamonds and in respect of sanctions law.

https://www.gov.uk/prepare-to-import-to-great-britain-from-january-2021

https://www.gov.uk/prepare-to-export-from-great-britain-from-january-2021

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/declaring-goods-brought-into-great-britain-from-the-eu-from-1-january-2021

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/import-licences-and-certificates-from-1-january-2021

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/export-licences-and-certificates-from-1-january-2021

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 10 July, OFAC advised that 4 names had been removed from the list of those subject to sanctions in respect of Somalia.

https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/OFAC-Enforcement/Pages/20200710.aspx

 

 

 

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On 10 July, OFSI advised that the following entries have been removed from the UK Consolidated List – Ri Pyong Chol in the North Korea sanctions list; Robert Kibelisa and Lambert Mende in the DRC sanctions list; Mas’ud Abdulhafiz in the Libyan sanctions lists; and Fahd Jasim al-Furayj in the Syrian sanctions lists.  The entry for Ahmed al-Jarroucheh has been updated.

On 10 July, the Isle of Man issued news releases advising that the changes also had effect in the Island.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-sanctions-consolidated-list-of-targets

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-sanctions-north-korea-democratic-peoples-republic-of-korea

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-sanctions-syria

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-sanctions-libya

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-sanctions-democratic-republic-of-the-congo

https://www.gov.im/news/2020/jul/10/financial-sanctions-democratic-peoples-republic-of-korea-north-korea/

https://www.gov.im/news/2020/jul/10/financial-sanctions-syria/

https://www.gov.im/news/2020/jul/10/financial-sanctions-libya/

https://www.gov.im/news/2020/jul/10/financial-sanctions-democratic-republic-of-the-congo/

 

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On 7 July, Baker McKenzie published an article about a recent court decision which affirmed the convictions of 2 foreign nationals, former officials of FIFA and the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL), for conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud – which is an offence in US criminal law which has been used in cases of public corruption as well as in cases in which private individuals breached a fiduciary duty to another.  It held that the use of US wire services could be sufficient in itself to confer US jurisdiction over foreign nationals in such prosecutions, even if the remainder of the fraudulent scheme took place outside of the US. The article examines the decision, and says that it means that companies and individuals doing business outside the US should be aware of the possibility of US prosecutors using the honest services wire fraud statute to prosecute foreign commercial bribery where the funds were routed through the US. Companies should ensure that their policies, procedures and trainings strictly prohibit commercial bribery – even if there is no specific local law to that effect in their jurisdiction.

https://insightplus.bakermckenzie.com/bm/compliance-investigations_1/international-us-second-circuit-rules-that-us-wire-transfers-are-sufficient-to-confer-us-jurisdiction-in-commercial-bribery-prosecution-what-does-this-mean-for-apac-companies

 

 

 

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