Marijuana brownies & the “smell of money laundering” – email evidence leads to arrest of Bitcoin guru over money laundering charges

Tweet One of Bitcoin’s earliest enthusiasts, Charlie Shrem who ran BitInstant, a New York based Bitcoin exchange, was arrested today and charged with money laundering conspiracy, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and failure to file suspicious activity reports to FinCEN. The complaint was filed by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, […]

OFAC sanctions in a nutshell

Tweet Summary of OFAC sanctions Until FACTA comes in force, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC“) remains the singularly most important agency in the U.S. in respect of financial crime for multinational and foreign companies and yet surprisingly, the OFAC regime appears to be relatively ignored from a compliance perspective. OFAC yields enormous power […]

Foreign firm hit with $1.5 million fine for sanctions violations & failing to have compliance regime

Tweet The Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC“) has assessed a penalty of $1.5 million against Alma Investment LLC, a foreign investment firm and fund, for violating U.S. sanctions by sending electronic wires totaling $103,283 through U.S. financial institutions for the benefit of persons in Iran. The electronic wires are a prohibited export to Iran […]

Lawyer subject to sanctions by U.S. for support to listed drug kingpins

Tweet Lawyer added to OFAC List The U.S. Department of the Treasury has designated a lawyer, Jose Antonio Nunez Bedoya, to its Specially Designated Nationals List (“SDNL“). Mr. Bedoya was added to the SDNL for incorporating several companies on behalf of members of Mexican organized crime, the Sinaloa Cartel, in an effort allegedly to create […]

American Express settles over Cuban sanctions issues

Tweet $5.2 million settlement American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. (“Amex“) has entered into a settlement agreement to pay US$5.2 million to settle potential civil liability for apparent violations of the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. §§515.201(b)(2) (“CACR“). The CACR broadly prohibit trade and investment with Cuba by any person subject to the jurisdiction of […]

Review of high risk countries for money laundering

Tweet The Financial Action Task Force (“FATF“) has released its list of high risk jurisdictions for money laundering and counter terrorist financing. Reporting entities are generally required to apply enhanced due diligence when dealing with funds from jurisdictions that are high risk. The high risk countries are: Vietnam Syria Iran Kenya Ecuador Korea Ethiopia Indonesia […]

Another foreign bank in US settles economic sanctions violations

Tweet Another foreign bank doing business in the US has agreed to settle with the New York State Department of Financial Services (“NYDFS“) over allegations that it violated federal economic sanctions. The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., Japan’s largest bank, has agreed to pay US$250 million to the NYDFS to settle allegations that it provided […]

US annual report on terrorism identifies terrorist safe havens

Tweet US Terrorism Report Released The U.S. Department of State released its annual Country Reports on Terrorism today (the “Report“), and interestingly, identified 10 key terrorist safe havens worldwide, namely Somalia, Mali, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Columbia and Venezuela. On the specific country reports, the Report identified positive steps taken by Canadian courts […]