Day: December 3, 2021

On 1 December, a report from ICIJ says that banks and financial service providers continue to turn a blind eye and accept customers that may be at high risk for financial crime, citing a new study by 3 renowned academics.  The researchers incorporated 12 shell companies in locations around the world and tried to open bank accounts for them. 

https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2021/12/researchers-took-shell-companies-on-a-global-shopping-trip-with-financial-institutions-heres-what-they-found/

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A report from The Sentry says that the China Railway Group and Sinohydro, 2 major Chinese construction companies, pledged more than a decade ago to help rebuild and expand infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in return for a sizeable chunk of the country’s mineral wealth.  It refers to the largest-ever leak of African financial records and data, obtained by the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) and Mediapart and shared with The Sentry by PPLAAF and the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) network.  The leak is said to reveal that the state enterprises used a middleman with accounts at the bank run by the president’s brother to pump tens of millions of dollars into the pockets of the Kabilas, their associates, and businesses at crucial junctures in what are known as the Sicomines agreements.

https://thesentry.org/reports/backchannel/

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An article from Out-Law poses this question, in the light of a Supreme Court case which will decide the issue of whether, and to what extent, a person who has not been charged with an offence can have a reasonable expectation of privacy in relation to information that relates to a criminal investigation into their activities.  It is said that a critical question in this context is whether information relating to a criminal investigation prior to the point of charge is private, noting that identification of suspects prior to charge is not currently regulated by statute. The case involves an article from Bloomberg using information about a US citizen from a letter of request for mutual legal assistance that had been sent by one law enforcement body to another. 

https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law/analysis/zxc-v-bloomberg-privacy-criminal-process

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On 3 December, a news release from Europol advised the launch of this programme.  Nearly all EU Member States are participating in the EU Most Wanted campaign this year and there are currently 62 fugitives published on the website.  Since the launch of the website in 2016, the annual EU Most Wanted campaigns have experienced continued success. In 2020, 16 fugitives were arrested in total and 5 of these arrests were thanks to the campaign. 

https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/hiding-in-plain-sight-make-sure-europe%E2%80%99s-most-wanted-criminals-do-not-escape-their-past

https://eumostwanted.eu/

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On 2 December, HM Treasury issued 3 Notices –

• Adding 8 individuals and the BELARUSKALI potash company to the Belarus sanctions lists;
• Amending 2 existing entries on the Russia sanctions list; and
• Amending 2 existing entries on the Syria sanctions lists.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1038050/Notice_Belarus_021221.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1037988/Notice_Russia_021221.pdf

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1038007/Notice_Syria_021221.pdf

Any modest contributions for my time and ongoing expenses are welcomed!  I have a page where you can do so, and where one-off contributions start as low as $3, at https://www.buymea3coffee.com/KoIvM842y