Real Estate

Long after his 2008 conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution and just days before his final arrest in 2019, Jeffrey Epstein had his eyes on a palace in Morocco. He wanted to buy it, but he needed help. 

Ukraine has imposed sanctions on Alexander Lukashenko, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accusing the Belarusian leader of playing an increasingly larger role in Russia’s war efforts, UNITED24 Media reported. 

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) added Kuwait and Papua New Guinea to its “grey list” of countries under closer monitoring, saying both have pledged to fix weaknesses in their safeguards against illicit money flows. 

Belgian police raided European Commission offices in Brussels on Thursday as part of an investigation into potential irregularities in the sale of EU real estate assets.

Colombia’s Attorney General’s Office said Monday it will file corruption charges against Ecopetrol President Ricardo Roa, alleging misconduct tied to his role as finance manager for President Gustavo Petro’s 2022 campaign and to contracting decisions at the state-run oil company, the Associated Press said. 

A massive corruption trial that spanned a decade ended last week in Turks and Caicos with the convictions of the jurisdiction’s former premier, his brother, and a one-time governmental minister, the Miami Herald said. 

African elites and companies are increasingly routing money through Dubai, Singapore and Hong Kong as traditional offshore centers such as Switzerland tighten scrutiny, according to a new University of Oxford working paper reported by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. 

CaixaBank has been hit with several fines totaling more than €30 million by Spain’s anti-money laundering watchdog, Sepblac, over a legacy real-estate transaction.

Abubakar Malami, Nigeria’s former attorney general and minister of justice, has been charged with 16 counts of money laundering and conspiracy involving billions of naira, Reuters reported.

Spanish prosecutors are investigating whether Madrid-based airline Plus Ultra used a €53-million Covid-era bailout to launder money embezzled from Venezuela through a web of companies in France, Switzerland and Spain, according to a report in El País.