Month: March 2024

China former football chief sentenced to life for bribery

Bribery, Prosecutions
A former president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA), Chen Xuyuan, has been sentenced to life in prison for bribery, according to the country’s state media. In January, he pleaded guilty to taking bribes worth a total of 81 million yuan ($11.2m; £8.9m). An anti-corruption crackdown led by President Xi Jinping has cut through sport, banking and the military. In football, more than a dozen coaches and players have been investigated. The trial at the Intermediate People’s Court of Huangshi in central China revealed Chen’s illicit activities from 2010 to 2023, which included his earlier role as the president and…

US Sanctions Zimbabwe President for Corruption and Torture Against His People

Corruption, Sanctions
Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Monday for corruption and severe human rights abuses, which include members of his administration facilitating acts of kidnapping and torture. In addition to Mnangagwa, the U.S. blacklisted 10 members of his government and their spouses under the the Global Magnitsky Program for corrupt practices to the detriment of their citizen’s human rights and well-being. The new measures replace an older set of sanctions against the Southern African state, which the Biden administration felt were too harmful to the Zimbabwe economy. “The United States remains…

Gunvor S.A. to Pay Over $661M in Landmark Guilty Plea for Foreign Bribery Case

Bribery, Prosecutions
Gunvor S.A., an international commodities trading company based in Switzerland, has pleaded guilty and agreed to pay over $661 million to settle an investigation by the U.S. Justice Department, resolving allegations of violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). The guilty plea follows an extensive probe into Gunvor’s corrupt practices, specifically its scheme to pay substantial bribes to Ecuadorean government officials with the aim of securing business deals with Petroecuador, the state-owned and state-controlled oil company of Ecuador. As part of the resolution, Gunvor entered into a plea agreement, admitting to conspiracy charges related to violating the anti-bribery provisions…

Two men acquitted of bribing Saudis in huge British defence deal

Bribery
Two men have been acquitted of paying bribes totalling millions of pounds to high-ranking Saudis after they argued that they had been unfairly prosecuted. Jeffrey Cook and John Mason had been accused of bribing a Saudi prince and his associates to secure and maintain a huge defence deal for a British company. But on Wednesday, a jury in London acquitted them after lawyers argued the payments had been authorised by the British and Saudi governments. Tom Allen, the KC representing Cook, had told jurors at Southwark crown court that a wide array of British politicians, officials and military figures had…

Expensive Art at Stake as Venezuelan Banker Faces U.S. Bribery Charges

Bribery, Prosecutions
He’s already facing charges for allegedly bribing a former Puerto Rican governor, and his bank is in liquidation following money laundering fines. Now, Julio Herrera Velutini has another legal concern: the state of his confiscated US$23-million art collection. Administrators in charge of liquidating his bank’s assets have “stashed” the collection “under conditions that seem inadequate for its proper preservation,” according to a lawsuit recently filed by Herrera Velutini. Herrera Velutini made the claims against Driven Administrative Services LLC, which has been appointed to administer Bancrédito International Bank and Trust Corporation. Herrera Velutini is the sole shareholder of Bancrédito Holding, the…

Settlement Agreement between the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and EFG International AG

Regulatory Fines, Sanctions
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced a settlement with EFG International AG, a Switzerland-based global private banking group. EFG has agreed to pay $3,740,442 to settle its potential civil liability for processing 873 securities transactions in apparent violation of the Cuban Asset Control Regulations, the Kingpin Act, and +Order 14024. The settlement amount reflects OFAC’s determination that EFG’s apparent violations were voluntarily self-disclosed and were non-egregious. Article Credit: https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20240314_33

Specialist CPS team involved in UK’s largest Bitcoin seizure

Digital Currencies, Money Laundering
An ex-takeaway worker has been convicted (Wednesday 20 March 2024) of laundering the proceeds which saw her rise from living above a Chinese restaurant to residing in a multi-million pound house in an affluent part of North London. Jian Wen, 42, was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of an offence relating to money laundering. Picture of Jian WenJian WenA Metropolitan Police investigation resulted in the CPS seizure of Bitcoin wallets from Wen, with an initial estimated value in excess of £2 billion. Prosecutors told the court the sheer scale of the seized Bitcoin, the lack of any legitimate evidence…

FATF publishes guidance on Beneficial Ownership and Transparency of Legal Arrangements

Law, Regulation & Guidance, Money Laundering
Following the February 2023 revisions to FATF Recommendation 25 on Beneficial ownership and transparency of legal arrangements, the FATF has updated its risk-based guidance for this Recommendation. The guidance complements the existing guidance on Recommendation 24 on legal persons and aims to help stakeholders from the public and private sectors to implement the new requirements more effectively. The Guidance aims to assist countries and the private sector to better understand how transparency requirements apply to legal arrangements. It sets out practical guidance on how to understand and assess the money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with trusts and similar…

Online Cryptocurrency Exchanger Pleads Guilty to Operating Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business

Digital Currencies, Money Laundering
Defendant Agrees to Forfeit $1.3 Million in Cash, Crypto and Precious MetalsEarlier today, in federal court in Central Islip, David Scotese pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. As part of his plea agreement, Scotese agreed to forfeit cryptocurrency, cash, and precious metals worth in excess of $1.3 million at current valuation. The proceeding was held before United States District Judge Joan M. Azrack. When sentenced, Scotese faces up to five years in prison. Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Thomas Fattorusso, Special Agent-in-Charge, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Erin Keegan, Acting…

Improving the effectiveness of the UK Money Laundering Regulations

Money Laundering, Regulation
HM Treasury has published a consultation on improving the effectiveness of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (the ‘MLRs’), which place requirements onto a range of businesses to identify and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. HM Treasury committed to consulting on changes to the MLRs as part of a wider programme of work aimed at reducing money laundering, which was set out in the Economic Crime Plan 2023-26. This consultation principally covers issues with the MLRs already identified by HM Treasury, for example in the 2022 Review of the UK’s…