Sanctions Evasion

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday imposed sanctions on Nicaraguan government officials, firms operating in Nicaragua’s gold sector, and individuals tied to the forcible seizure of a U.S.-owned mining asset. 

Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has charged shipping financier John Michael Ormerod with alleged money laundering and breaches of Russia sanctions.

The U.S. Treasury imposed a fresh round of Iran-related sanctions on Wednesday, targeting what it described as the illicit oil-shipping empire of Iranian magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani and a Hezbollah-linked oil-for-gold laundering network tied to Venezuela. 

Telegram is still hosting Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-language black market that British officials have levied sanctions on and accused of facilitating crypto scams and human trafficking.

Hungary’s incoming prime minister, Péter Magyar, accused outgoing Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on Monday of shredding documents related to European Union sanctions.

The Trump administration has allowed a temporary sanctions waiver on Russian oil to expire, ending a short-lived reprieve that had permitted the sale of some blacklisted Russian crude and pulling back from a policy that was intended to help contain surging global oil prices.

Iran has built a more complex trade system under years of Western sanctions, relying increasingly on China, barter arrangements, and covert financing channels that help it keep goods moving even as formal restrictions target its oil exports, banking access, and foreign trade.

Ukraine is seeing early signs that sanctions are disrupting Russia’s access to some foreign technology used in Shahed drones, although newly manufactured Western and Asian components are still being found in the weapons.

A donor to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is the registered manager and shareholder of a Dubai-based company that previously had business ties to an Iranian conglomerate later placed under U.S. sanctions.

Iran is seeking to collect transit tolls from oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz in cryptocurrency, a move that could deepen the role of digital assets in the country’s sanctions-hit economy.