The State and Treasury departments should create a sanctions program to address illegal gold mining and other environmental crimes in the Western Hemisphere, said the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition in a new report Aug. 20.
The Treasury Department is seeking public comments to help it identify “innovative or novel” methods that banks and other financial institutions are using to detect illegal financial activity involving digital assets. The comment notice is required by the Genius Act, which became law in July and is partly meant to prevent criminals, terror groups and others from using stablecoins to launder money, evade sanctions or finance terrorism. Comments are due Oct. 17.
The U.S. this week sanctioned two International Criminal Court judges and two prosecutors that the State Department said have been involved in efforts to investigate, arrest or prosecute people from foreign countries without those countries' consent.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week removed sanctions that had been placed on Claudia Mercedes Vargas Giraldo, who originally was sanctioned in 2017 for counter-narcotics reasons. OFAC had sanctioned her for ties to Juan Santiago Gallon Henao, a Colombian drug trafficker associated with the criminal group La Oficina de Envigado. OFAC didn't provide a reason for the delisting.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week sanctioned four people in Costa Rica, along with two Costa Rican entities, for their ties to narcotics tracking and money laundering.
The U.K. last week removed Alex Kande Mupompa from its sanctions regime targeting the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Mupompa, a DRC official, was sanctioned for alleged human rights violations, including his ties to the "disproportionate use of force, violent repression and extrajudicial killings" by DRC security forces. The U.K. announcement came after an EU court in 2024 annulled Mupompa's designation, according to an unofficial translation.
The U.K., France and Germany will support snapback sanctions against Iran if the country doesn’t agree to safeguards around its nuclear program by the end of this month, the three European nations said last week.
The U.S. this week sanctioned Mexican cartels Carteles Unidos and Los Viagras along with seven people that it said work closely with the cartels and are linked to terrorism, drug trafficking and extortion.
The Office of Foreign Assets Control this week redesignated Garantex, a virtual currency exchange with operations in Moscow, and sanctioned other companies and people that it said are involved in malicious cyber activities.
The U.K. on Aug. 13 amended the entry for Serbian national Marko Petrovic, member of the Kavac Gang, under the U.K.'s sanctions regime meant to combat global irregular migration and trafficking in persons. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation noted in the listing that Petrovic has been convicted of violent behavior and an "endangerment-related" offense in Serbia.