Sanctions Evasion

Lego toys manufactured in the Czech Republic continue to enter Russia through European trading companies more than two years after the Danish group halted direct sales, according to customs data cited in a new investigation by the Czech outlet Page Not Found and reporting by the Kyiv Independent.

The U.S. Treasury Department disclosed the existence of roughly $9 billion in 2024 financial activity tied to Iranian “shadow banking,” mapping a web of front companies and intermediaries used to sell sanctioned oil, launder illicit proceeds, and procure banned technology.

President Donald Trump has granted a pardon to Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the founder of Binance, after months of behind-the-scenes efforts by Zhao and his allies to secure clemency.

The United States imposed expansive new sanctions Wednesday on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Lukoil and Rosneft, escalating U.S. economic pressure as negotiations to end the war in Ukraine falter.

Iran has announced the official end of the 2015 nuclear agreement, saying it is no longer bound by the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and that all restrictions and related mechanisms under the accord are terminated, The Guardian reported. 

Three cargo vessels recently sanctioned by the EU for operating in Russia’s “shadow fleet” were quietly sold out of Syria’s state fleet in 2023 for $1 each to an offshore company in the Seychelles, according to new reporting by OCCRP and its Syrian partner SIRAJ. 

Britain imposed new sanctions Wednesday on Russia’s two largest oil producers, Rosneft and Lukoil, and 51 ships, including 44 “shadow fleet” tankers and seven LNG vessels, Reuters reported.

One of the world’s oldest marketplaces is doubling as a modern hub for sanctions evasion and large-scale money laundering, according to experts who spoke to The New York Post.

Spanish authorities have seized property linked to Nikolai Kolesov, the chief executive of state-owned Russian Helicopters, on suspicion of money laundering, according to an anti-corruption group founded by the late Alexei Navalny. 

NIQ, the world’s largest consumer-data provider, has been conducting business in occupied Ukraine despite international sanctions against the Russian Federation, the Financial Times reported.