Archive

May 6, 2020

The United States has obtained a settlement of $49 million in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal, in which high-level officials of 1MDB and their associates allegedly robbed the people of Malaysia by misappropriating over $4.5 billion in public funds, which they laundered through financial institutions based in the United States and other countries and squandered on expensive properties and possessions.  With the conclusion of the case against Emirati businessman Khadem al-Buraisi, the United States has recovered over $1.1 billion in assets arising from the 1MDB scandal, representing the largest civil forfeiture by the DOJ and the largest recovery to date under the agency’s Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative.  DOJ; USAO CDCA

April 30, 2020

Entities of Israeli banking conglomerate Bank Hapoalim have pleaded guilty and entered into civil settlements for their role in a money laundering scheme for bribes made to soccer officials with Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and others in exchange for preferences including in the award of soccer match broadcasting rights.  As part of three-year non-prosecution agreement, the bank will forfeit $20.73 million, pay a fine of $9.33 million, and undertake specified remedial and compliance efforts. The bank simultaneously entered into a separate settlement regarding tax evasion.  DOJ; USAO EDNY

April 20, 2020

The Industrial Bank of Korea will pay $86 million as part of a deferred prosecution agreement resolving claims arising from the bank’s processing of more than $1 billion of transactions between Korean entities to Iranian entities in violation of economic sanctions law under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. The bank admitted that it failed to institute an adequate and effective anti-money laundering program despite repeated warnings by its New-York based compliance officer.  The bank will pay a $35 million to the State of New York and forfeit $51 million to the U.S.  USAO SDNY; NY

April 15, 2019

Munich-based UniCredit Bank AG (UCB AG) and affiliated entities have agreed to pay more than $1.3 billion to resolve criminal charges and related allegations of unlawful conduct by the Department of Justice, Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Federal Reserve, the New York Department of Financial Services, and the New York County District Attorney's Office. As part of the settlement, UniCredit admitted that between 2002 and 2011 it processed financial transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars through U.S. financial institutions on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and other entities subject to sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).  DOJ; Treasury; Fed; DANY

April 9, 2019

London-based Standard Chartered Bank has agreed to pay $1.1 billion to resolve criminal charges and related allegations of unlawful conduct by the Department of Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Federal Reserve, the New York Department of Financial Services, the New York County District Attorney's Office, and the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority. As part of the settlement, Standard Chartered admitted that it processed thousands of financial transactions worth hundreds of millions of dollars through U.S. financial institutions for the benefit of Iranian and other entities and individuals subject to sanctions. In addition, Standard Chartered admitted that it had deficiencies in its compliance programs and had falsified the records of New York financial institutions.  In addition to the financial penalties, Standard Chartered agreed to the extension of an existing deferred prosecution agreement through 2021, and committed to undertaking specified compliance initiatives.  DOJ; Treasury; Fed; DANY; UK

April 4, 2019

Kenneth C. Coleman of Houston, Texas, who owned Acacia Pharma Distributors, Inc. and Four Corners Suppliers, Inc., has been sentenced to 30 years in prison following his conviction at trial for money laundering, tax evasion, and related charges.  Coleman and his companies purchased second-hand prescription medications from various illegitimate sources and sold them to a third party, Green Valley Medical Distributors, LLC, which then sold the medications to pharmacies as if they were brand new.  In arranging the sales, Coleman created fraudulent documents that misrepresented the sources of the medications and their prior sales.  After being paid by Green Valley, Coleman and others would pay the suppliers of the drugs, often in cash, and failed to report income or file corporate income taxes.  Coleman was also ordered to forfeit $20.3 million and pay $717,000 in restitution to the IRS.  DOJ

March 11, 2019

Marshall Islands-based 1pool Ltd. and its chief executive officer and owner, Patrick Brunner, will pay $990,000 to resolve a CFTC action alleging that they illegally offered retail commodity transactions that were margined in bitcoin, failed to register as a futures commission merchant (FCM), and failed to have required anti-money laundering procedures in place. The settlement payment consists of a $175,000 civil monetary penalty, disgorgement of $246,000 in gains, and restitution of approximately $570,000 to U.S. customers.  CFTC

December 4, 2018

In connection with their work for the "Panama Papers" law firm of Mossack Fonseca & Co. and its affiliates, Ramses Owens, Dirk Brauer, Richard Gaffey, and Harald Joachim Von Der Goltz have been indicted for actions related to the firm's efforts to circumvent U.S. tax laws on behalf of their clients through the use of offshore accounts and shell companies which Mossack Fonseca created.  The defendants then used an alleged “playbook” to repatriate un-taxed money into the U.S. banking system. The defendants are charged with wire fraud, tax fraud, and money laundering, among other offenses. In the last two months, three of the defendants have been arrested; Ramses Owens remains at large.  DOJ

November 27, 2018

Following a guilty plea for receiving over $1 billion in bribes, the former Venezuelan national treasurer, Alejandro Andrade Cedeno ("Andrade"), was sentenced to ten years in prison and agreed to a forfeiture money judgment of $1 billion.  Andrade received the bribes in cash as well as private jets, yachts, cars, homes, champion horses, and high-end watches, in exchange for selecting the bribers to conduct currency exchange transactions for the Venezuelan government. DOJ

November 20, 2018

The owner of Venezuelan news network Globovision, Raul Gorrin Balisario, has been charged in an international money-laundering conspiracy that included the payment of millions of dollars in bribes to two high-level Venezuelan officials to secure the rights to conduct foreign currency exchange transactions at favorable rates for the Venezuelan government.  Two others pleaded guilty to charges arising under the same scheme.  Alejandro Andrade Cedeno, the former Venezuelan national treasurer, admitted to receiving over $1 billion in bribes.  Gabriel Arturo Jimenez Aray, the former owner of Banco Peravia in the Dominican Republic, admitted that he conspired with Gorrin and others to acquire the bank, through which he helped launder bribe money and other proceeds of the scheme.  DOJ; USAO SDFL