Sanctions Evasion

Fake banknotes resembling Monopoly money are being used to move rubles over borders as part of an effort to circumvent Western sanctions on the Russian Federation, according to new reporting by the Financial Times. 

A United Nations committee has approved exemptions from North Korea sanctions to allow a new round of humanitarian aid projects to proceed, Reuters reported on Friday, citing an unnamed diplomatic source. 

U.S. investigators are examining whether specific cryptocurrency platforms have helped Iranian officials and state-linked actors evade sanctions as crypto activity in Iran surges, a blockchain researcher with direct knowledge of Treasury’s concerns told Reuters.

The UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has levied a £160,000 monetary penalty on Lloyds Banking Group for violations of Russia sanctions made by its subsidiary Bank of Scotland Plc. 

The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday blacklisted nine ships and their owners in response to Iran’s ongoing crackdown on protestors, including Tehran’s decision to shut down internet access within the country. 

Two UK-registered cryptocurrency exchanges, Zedcex and Zedxion, operated as front companies for an infrastructure that processed approximately $1 billion in funds linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to new analysis from TRM Labs. 

Amid all of the spectacle that has come with the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, federal prosecutors have quietly amended a key claim they leveled against the South American leader last year. They no longer assert that the drug-trafficking organization he allegedly led—“Cartel de los Soles”—really exists. 

Botswana is weighing a “golden passport” program that would grant citizenship to foreigners making a one-off investment of up to about $100,000, as the country searches for fresh revenue streams.

Iran is offering to sell ballistic missiles, drones, warships, and other advanced weapons systems to foreign governments in exchange for payment in cryptocurrency, the Financial Times reported.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on four companies it said were operating in Venezuela’s oil sector, along with associated oil tankers.