Illicit Finance

Margaret Ryan, the former head of enforcement at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), resigned last week after clashing with agency leaders over the direction of the watchdog’s oversight, including cases tied to President Donald Trump, his family, and his administration.

The trial of former U.S. Congressman David Rivera started Monday in Miami as the Florida Republican faces charges that he illegally lobbied American officials on behalf of Venezuelan interests without registering as a foreign agent.

A U.S. judge has struck down a Treasury Department rule that required disclosure of the beneficial owners of companies making all-cash real estate purchases, dealing a setback to a Biden-era effort to curb money laundering through the property market.

French billionaire Vincent Bolloré has been ordered to stand trial in Paris to face charges that he bribed a foreign public official in Togo among other allegations, in a long-running case tied to the Bolloré Group’s business activities in West Africa.

The U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday it had imposed sanctions on an international network of 16 people and companies that allegedly diverted more than $100 million to Hezbollah since 2020. 

Chelsea FC were fined £10.75 million and handed a suspended transfer ban by the Premier League over undisclosed payments made during Roman Abramovich’s ownership, in a case that drew renewed attention to offshore money flows and hidden financial arrangements in football.

The new leader of Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation cartel is an American citizen, a distinction that could complicate efforts by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies to target him even as Washington and Mexico deepen cooperation against drug traffickers.

Weapons traffickers supplying Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel have sharply increased shipments from the United States, with demand fueled by cartel warfare and financed through a growing cross-border smuggling business that now moves hundreds of firearms at a time.

Companies House has removed cryptocurrency exchange Zedxion Exchange Ltd. from the UK’s register of businesses after an investigative report by OCCRP found the firm used a fictitious director and misleading incorporation filings to conceal links to sanctioned Iranian tycoon Babak Zanjani.

A UK parliamentary committee warned on Wednesday that weaknesses in Britain’s political finance regime leave it vulnerable to illicit foreign funds, and said enforcement remains too fragmented and underpowered to deter abuse.