Tax Crimes

The mayor of Ecuador’s largest port city was arrested Tuesday on charges of money laundering and tax evasion, as prosecutors widened a case that also swept up his brother and other members of his inner circle, the Associated Press said. 

Brazil’s Finance Ministry has urged the country’s central bank to tighten regulation around pooled and escrow accounts that authorities say are being used by bad actors to circumvent asset freezes, according to Reuters.

Jack Lang, a former French culture minister and long-time president of the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) in Paris, has resigned from the post after Mediapart reported new details about financial and business ties between his family and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. 

Donald Trump’s return to the presidency has marked a stark shift in white-collar crime enforcement, with federal prosecutors and investigators stepping back from complex foreign-bribery, money-laundering, and corruption cases, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) division identified $10.6 billion in tax and other financial crimes in the federal fiscal year ending September 30, a rise of nearly 16% from the prior year. 

Spanish lender Santander has agreed to pay €22.5 million ($26.18 million) to settle a long-running tax fraud case in France, bringing to a close an investigation that began more than a decade ago, according to Reuters.

Brazil’s government is weighing plans to tax the use of cryptocurrencies in international payments, targeting a fast-growing channel for moving money across borders, according to a Reuters report.

One of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels is smuggling gasoline and diesel into the Port of Ensenada with the aid of a “dark fleet” tanker and a Houston-based company, according to an investigation by Reuters. 

UBS Group AG will pay €835 million ($985.6 million) to resolve a yearslong case in France over allegations the Swiss bank helped wealthy clients evade taxes. 

The UK should standardize beneficial-ownership requirements across its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, an international watchdog group said.