Sanctions

The U.S. on Thursday blacklisted five senior Nicaraguan officials for their alleged role in helping Nicaragua to consolidate authoritarian power through financial controls, labor policy, surveillance, and military intelligence operations.

A senior Treasury Department official is preparing to resign after privately raising objections to a White House-backed initiative aimed at alleged fraud tied to the Somali immigrant community in Minnesota.

A senior U.S. senator has opened an inquiry into Binance seeking records on alleged transactions that funneled nearly $2 billion to Iran-linked terrorist organizations and other entities and payments that helped circumvent sanctions on Russian oil, Bloomberg said. 

Western governments marked the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine with new measures targeting the Kremlin’s revenue streams and enabling networks, despite stalled efforts by the EU to approve a broad sanctions package.

The head of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Mohamed “Hemedti” Hamdan Dagalo, appears to own a portfolio of property in Dubai valued at approximately $1.7 million, according to new research by The Sentry. 

Russian diamonds may be entering Australia through intermediaries and processing hubs despite sanctions on Moscow’s state-owned diamond giant Alrosa.

The UK unveiled its biggest Russia sanctions package in years on Tuesday, targeting Moscow’s shadow fleet and the key networks and infrastructure that have helped keep crude exports flowing since the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war.

Blockchain forensics firm Elliptic has identified four cryptocurrency exchanges that allegedly facilitate Russia sanctions evasion, including by helping to convert rubles into crypto-assets and move value across borders without the direct aid of traditional banking channels. 

Binance internal investigators found last year that about $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency flowed from two accounts on the exchange to Iranian entities with links to terrorist groups, raising potential violations of global sanctions.

Hungary plans to block an EU sanctions package targeting Moscow and major new loans intended for Kyiv unless oil shipments resume through the Druzhba pipeline crossing western Ukraine.