January 15, 2021 – raytodd.blog

US STATE DEPARTMENT INCREASES SANCTIONS ON EGYPTIAN-BASED ORGANISATION

A news release from the State Department on 14 January advised that it has increased sanctions against Harakat Sawa’d Misr (aka HASM) – by designating the group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). HASM was previously designated as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in January 2018 for posing a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism. The State Department has also designated Yahya al-Sayyid Ibrahim Musa and Alaa Ali Ali Mohammed al-Samahi as SDGT being leaders of HASM and reviewed the FTO designation of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and maintained it. Property and interests that are within the US or that come within the US or that come within the possession or control of US persons, are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them. In addition, as a designated FTO, it is a federal crime to knowingly provide, or attempt or conspire to provide, material support or resources to HASM.

HASM is a terrorist group active in Egypt formed in 2015. Musa is a Turkey-based HASM leader and Al-Samahi is a Turkey-based senior HASM official with an operational role in the group.

PIJ was founded in 1979-1980 in Egypt. It emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood movement and was inspired by the Islamic Revolution in Iran. PIJ is committed to the destruction of Israel and to the creation of an Islamic state in historic Palestine.

https://www.state.gov/state-department-terrorist-designations-of-hasm-and-its-leaders-and-maintenance-of-pij-fto-designation/

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OFAC SANCTIONS DESIGNATIONS – HONG KONG, IRAN, GLOBAL MAGNITSKY, COUNTER-TERRORISM AND NON-PROLIFERATION REGIMES; PLUS HONG KONG SANCTIONS REGULATIONS

On 15 January, OFAC advised a number of new additions to its sanctions lists. There are 9 individuals and 5 entities added, with 6 other existing entries (including IRISL) being amended. Those designated included the Cuban Ministry of the Interior, Lazaro Alberto Álvarez Casas. OFAC has also published new regulations to implement Executive Order EO 13936 re Hong Kong and OFAC says that it intends to supplement them with a more comprehensive set of regulations, which may include additional interpretive and definitional guidance and additional general licences and statements of licensing policy.

https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20210115

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm1237

https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20210115_33

https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/126/fr86_3793.pdf

BALANCING FACILITATION AND CONTROL TO COMBAT ILLICIT TRADE IN FREE TRADE ZONES

The International Chamber of Commerce has published a 2020 update of its 2013 report, saying that Free Trade Zones (FTZ) provide significant opportunities for legitimate business and play a critical role in global trade as well as economic growth for the host nation. However, updated research by the ICC has continued to confirm that insufficient oversight remains a major enabler of illicit activities. It also says that the Covid-19 pandemic has increased vulnerability for abuses by criminal actors who take advantage of supply chain shortages and increased demands as well as relaxed oversight often because of such things as quarantines that have softened Customs control. The 2020 report promotes a set of specific policy and legislative recommendations on how to preserve and expand the benefits of FTZ for legitimate traders and protect the public and honest businesses from predatory practices. These recommendations are based on a review of the international and national legal frameworks governing FTZ, including how they are implemented and enforced.

https://iccwbo.org/content/uploads/sites/3/2020/12/2020-bascap-report.pdf

NOTE ON EU REGULATION 2018/1805 ON THE MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF FREEZING ORDERS AND CONFISCATION ORDERS

A Note from Eurojust is concerned with the new Regulation on the Mutual Recognition of Freezing and Confiscation Orders which came into use from 19 December. The Regulation introduces a completely new legal framework in the EU governing the area of judicial cooperation in the field of asset recovery, replacing the legal instruments applicable so far. The new regime brings both significant changes and novelties that might affect the everyday casework of practitioners in the Member States. The Note does not aim at an analysis of the specific legal issues that may stem from the application of the Regulation nor does it provide an exhaustive list of possible challenging legal issues. Many of them would require substantial analysis that goes beyond the scope of this Note.

https://media-exp1.licdn.com/dms/document/C4D1FAQGRauGpO3Dl2w/feedshare-document-pdf-analyzed/0/1610373476751?e=1610812800&v=beta&t=DUzbc4ZgNzGxtXvTbg_DNa_7q67qAgUVbHQuMjGbnGI

BREXIT: WHERE DO YOUR GOODS ORIGINATE?

On 14 January, an article from the ICAEW in the UK posed this question and said that it has posted new guidance on the rules of origin, warning that businesses may face customs charges if they get things wrong. It points out that where your goods contain parts, components or ingredients from several sources then the rules are used to determine where the final product is deemed to have originated.

https://www.icaew.com/insights/viewpoints-on-the-news/2021/jan-2021/brexit-where-do-your-goods-originate

https://www.icaew.com/brexit/customs-processes/brexit-planning-determine-where-your-goods-originate

NEW FINDINGS ON NORTH KOREAN SANCTIONS-BUSTING IN THE DRC

The Sentry has published an update on its report of violations of UN sanctions in and through the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It says that 2 North Korean businessmen who evaded international sanctions in the DRC won more government contracts than previously understood, saying that the 2 men likely worked in the DRC on behalf of a little-known North Korean government design firm, Korea Paekho Trading Corporation. It is said that these revelations, as well as indications that Korea Paekho Trading Corporation affiliates have operated throughout West and Central Africa, raise significant questions about the enforcement of sanctions on North Korea. In particular, they demonstrate how North Korean actors exploit weak institutional controls and jurisdictions with high levels of corruption, a model other sanctions-busters have followed. In the case of the DRC, due diligence shortfalls across private and public institutions may create systemic risk for an economy that relies heavily on access to US dollars through relationships with international banks.

https://thesentry.org/reports/artful-dodgers/

NORTH KOREAN ‘SLUSH FUND’ FINANCED BY INDIVIDUALS WITH WESTERN TIES

On 13 January, Kharon published an article which claimed that a North Korean foundation reported to be a slush fund for the leadership in Pyongyang is financed by individuals with extensive commercial ties to Western companies. The Kim Il Sung-Kim Jong Il Foundation, located in Pyongyang, collects funds intended for the “peace and progress of humankind true to the instructions of the great leaders,” according to its website. It raises funds by encouraging donations and recruiting members, charging an admission fee and a yearly membership fee for individuals or organisations. It is said that several members of the foundation’s leadership are owners or directors of companies located in countries all over the world.

https://brief.kharon.com/updates/north-korean-slush-fund-financed-by-individuals-with-western-ties

EU ADDS 1 NAME TO SYRIAN SANCTIONS LIST

EU ADDS 1 NAME TO SYRIAN SANCTIONS LIST

EU Regulation 2021/29/EU added Faisal MEKDAD, he Syrian Foreign Affairs minister, to the EU Syrian sanctions list because, it says, he shares responsibility for the Syrian regime’s violent repression against the Syrian people.

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=uriserv%3AOJ.LI.2021.012.01.0001.01.ENG&toc=OJ%3AL%3A2021%3A012I%3ATOC

CEUTA’S ONLINE GAMBLING INDUSTRY FOSTERS CROSS-BORDER MONEY LAUNDERING

On 15 January, Morocco World makes this claim in an article saying that the Spanish-controlled city of Ceuta, in northern Morocco, has turned into a main destination for European online gambling companies. However, many of the businesses serve as a facade for money laundering schemes, according to an investigation by El Espanol. This details how recent tax reforms in Ceuta are said to have turned the city into a fertile ground for money launderers. These individuals pay only half the taxes in the autonomous city compared to what they would have to pay in mainland Spain. According to El Espanol, many of the online gambling companies in Ceuta serve as a cover for large money laundering operations.

https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2021/01/331953/ceutas-online-gambling-industry-fosters-cross-border-money-laundering/

PAKISTAN: IMPORTERS’ FAKE CLEARANCE CERTIFICATES HAMPERING AML DRIVE

On 15 January, Pakistan Today reported that a recent scandal regarding the ‘use of fake stamps of Pakistan’s Embassy in Japan to import used cars’ is a clear example of how importers are damaging Pakistan’s progress in tackling issues pertaining to money laundering. According to sources, the Customs Appraisement Department had recently started an investigation wherein it was unearthed that a used luxury car was imported from Japan on a ‘fake clearance certificate’ of Pakistan’s embassy, and it was revealed that a number of vehicles have already been imported on fake documents of Pakistani Embassy in Japan.

https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2021/01/15/importers-fake-clearance-certificates-hampering-govts-anti-money-laundering-drive/