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OFAC’s Seven-Figure Warning to Sanctions Gatekeepers
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced a substantial settlement of $1,092,000 with an individual identified only as U.S. Person-1, an attorney and former government official, to resolve civil liability arising from 122 apparent violations of U.S. sanctions related to Russia. The violations occurred while the attorney acted as a fiduciary for a U.S.-based family trust connected to a Russian oligarch who was designated a Spec
Dec 165 min read


Central Bank Warns Irish Financial Sector on Sanctions Compliance and Rising Cybercrime
The Central Bank of Ireland has issued a warning to banks and ATM operators across the country to ensure that their systems are not being exploited to bypass EU sanctions. This alert comes after the regulator identified specific instances in which card transactions involved US-issued cards from Belgazprombank, a Belarusian bank that has been under EU sanctions since earlier this year. Belgazprombank was sanctioned for using the Central Bank of Russia’s financial messaging sys
Dec 152 min read


Football Governance Collides With Sanctions Law as FIFA Payment Orders Create Compliance Tension
European football has been pulled into an extraordinary compliance conflict after a series of FIFA rulings — compounded by the existence of the FIFA Clearing House as a centralised payment system — placed clubs under pressure that closely resembled the dynamics typically associated with sanctions-evasion exposure. These decisions arrived while EU, UK, and US sanctions regimes barred payments to a range of Russian clubs and their banking partners, shutting down all lawful paym
Dec 104 min read


Kyiv Intensifies Pressure on Maritime Networks With Sweeping Sanctions Against Ships Linked to Occupied-Region Grain
Ukraine has sharply escalated its campaign against unauthorized grain transfers from occupied territories by imposing sanctions on dozens of vessels identified as part of the maritime infrastructure supporting these movements. Officials describe the decision as a deliberate strike at the shipping and financial networks that facilitate the extraction and sale of grain controlled by Russian forces, asserting that the proceeds are funneled into opaque structures beyond the rea
Nov 284 min read


EU Weighs New Measures to Rein in Russia’s Expanding Shadow Fleet
Brussels is considering another round of restrictive actions aimed at those enabling Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” to move oil, as the bloc intensifies efforts to curb Moscow’s capacity to fund its war in Ukraine. Sources say EU foreign ministers, gathering in Brussels on Thursday, will examine ways to boost cooperation with ship-registering nations in order to disrupt Russia’s methods for evading existing sanctions. In a document circulated ahead of the meeting, Pola
Nov 202 min read


Hidden Wealth Uncovered: £33 Million London Mansion Tied to Sanctioned Iranian Banker Sparks Financial Crime Probe
A newly revealed £33.7 million mansion in one of London’s most exclusive neighborhoods has ignited sharp concern within anti–financial crime and sanctions enforcement circles. The property has been traced to a sanctioned Iranian banker, accused of channeling funds through high-risk financial networks and using luxury real estate as a shield to safeguard wealth from regulatory oversight. The case underscores how high-value property can become a covert financial vehicle, desi
Nov 114 min read


U.S. Sanctions Expose North Korea’s $3 Billion Global Laundering Network
A vast $3 billion laundering operation run by North Korea has been unveiled by the United States, marking one of the most sophisticated state-backed financial crime networks ever identified. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has issued a new round of sanctions that reveal an intricate structure of digital theft, shell banking, and cross-border money laundering. Beneath the technical mechanisms lies a deliberate state strategy: Pyong
Nov 65 min read


Treasury’s Historic Move on Petro and the Deepening Threat of State-Enabled Laundering
In a groundbreaking action announced in late October 2025, the United States Department of the Treasury designated Colombian President Gustavo Petro and his closest associates under Executive Order 14059, the U.S. sanctions authority aimed at persons involved in the international narcotics trade. This unprecedented step — targeting a sitting leader of a key U.S. ally — has drawn global attention not just for its political implications but for the alarm it raises about the con
Oct 297 min read


Latvia’s Moscow House Case Becomes a Defining Test for Europe’s Sanctions Enforcement Regime
Latvia’s security authorities have intensified one of the country’s most politically charged financial crime cases, moving closer to criminal prosecution against two former managers of the defunct “Moscow House.” The pair are accused of generating income from a sanctioned Russian-owned property, in defiance of European Union asset-freeze measures. This unfolding prosecution highlights both the intricacies of sanctions enforcement across Europe and the ease with which immobili
Oct 246 min read


OFAC Sanctions Expose the Financial Networks Powering Haiti’s Gang Coalition Viv Ansanm
The latest sanctions imposed by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) against prominent figures linked to the Haitian gang coalition Viv Ansanm have illuminated the deep financial machinery sustaining organized violence in Haiti. The designations of Dimitri Herard and Kempes Sanon represent more than a counterterrorism measure—they expose the sophisticated ways in which gang coalitions in fragile states manipulate money laundering systems to maintain dominance, exp
Oct 225 min read


UK Imposes Fresh Sanctions on 90 Entities to Cripple Russia’s War Financing
The United Kingdom has unveiled a new round of sanctions targeting 90 entities in a move aimed at cutting off revenue streams that continue to fund Russia’s military operations in Ukraine. Announced on 15 October, the measures were introduced jointly by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the UK Treasury, with officials stating that the sanctions are intended to “strike at the heart of Putin’s war funding.” A key element of the new sanctions package is
Oct 212 min read


Two Cypriot “Golden Passport” Holders Added to US Sanctions List
The United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced on Tuesday, October 14, 2025, that two individuals who obtained citizenship through Cyprus’s former Investment Program have been added to the US sanctions list. Chen Zhi and Yang Jian were included in the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List under Executive Order 13581, meaning that any assets they hold under US jurisdiction are blocked and US persons or entities are prohibited from
Oct 151 min read


Roman Abramovich Loses EU Court Battle Against Sanctions
Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich suffered a legal setback on Wednesday after the European Union’s second-highest court rejected his...
Sep 122 min read


Hezbollah’s Global Car Laundering Network Fuels Terrorism Amid Financial Strain
Few threats to global financial stability are as audacious as Hezbollah’s use of vehicle theft and resale operations. From luxury SUVs...
Sep 54 min read


German Lawyer Seeks to Sue EU Council for Defamation Over Usmanov Sanctions Rationale
A German attorney has lodged a case before the country’s highest court in a bid to secure permission to sue the Council of the European...
Aug 293 min read


Europe Prepares to Trigger UN Sanctions Snapback as Iran Expands Nuclear Program
Germany, France, and the United Kingdom are expected to initiate the process of reimposing United Nations sanctions on Iran over its...
Aug 283 min read


Escalating Sanctions on Garantex and Grinex Redefine Cryptocurrency Crime Enforcement
The intensifying sanctions against cryptocurrency exchanges Garantex and Grinex have emerged as a pivotal case in the evolution of...
Aug 194 min read


US Sanctions Mexican Rapper El Makabelico Over Alleged Cartel Money Laundering
A high-profile enforcement action has placed the global music industry squarely within the crosshairs of anti-money laundering...
Aug 124 min read


U.S. Treasury Targets Iran’s Shadow Banking Network in Sweeping Sanctions Action
Iran’s hidden banking network functions like a financial ghost—slipping past international safeguards and linking sanctioned institutions...
Aug 114 min read


Sanctions Evasion and Money Laundering: The Case of Brian Assi Exposes the Cross-Border Weak Links in Export and AML Controls
The recent sentencing of Brian (Brahim) Assi in the United States offers a critical lens into the convergence of sanctions evasion,...
Jul 245 min read
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