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28th July 2020

Syrian tycoon says front companies used to dodge sanctions as rift with Assad widens

Syrian businessman Rami Makhlouf revealed on Sunday he had set up a web of offshore front companies to help President Bashar al Assad evade Western sanctions, in a social media post blasting the government for investigating his business empire. One of Syria’s richest and most powerful businessmen, Makhlouf said security… Read More

27th July 2020

How U.S. taxpayer dollars may have bought a Kurdish strongman’s Beverly Hills mansions

Bribing one politician is bad. Bribing all the politicians is worse. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating a group of companies in Kurdistan, Iraq’s semi-independent northern region, that appears to be doing the latter in order to secure a monopoly on Pentagon fuel contracts worth hundreds of… Read More

21st July 2020

US sanctions on Syria leave Hezbollah more isolated in Lebanon

New U.S. sanctions targeting the Syrian government appear to also undermine Hezbollah in Lebanon. Experts say the measures are alienating Hezbollah from its political allies in Lebanon and weakening its usage of state institutions to assist the Syrian regime. The sanctions, introduced on June 17 and known as the Caesar… Read More

20th July 2020

France, Germany, Italy threaten sanctions over arms for Libya

The leaders of France, Germany and Italy on Saturday threatened for the first time to use sanctions against countries that continued to violate a United Nations arms embargo on Libya. French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte urged “all foreign actors to end… Read More

20th July 2020

Amazon: Prime Time for Penalties

On July 8th, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced a settlement agreement with Amazon.com, Inc (“Amazon”) for a large number of violations across a wide spectrum of OFAC’s sanctions programs (the agreement published by OFAC lists 14 sets of regulations and Executive Orders). While the total amount… Read More

15th July 2020

Assad regime implicated in massive captagon bust

By Will Neal, OCCRP, 13 July 2020 OCCRP – The recent record-breaking shipment of amphetamines seized by Italian authorities may not have been manufactured by terrorist group ISIS, as was first believed, but by the Syrian regime itself. On July 1, OCCRP reported that police in the Italian… Read More

13th July 2020

Moscow front companies, tax havens tied to Assad’s ‘chemical arsenal’

A Russian-Syrian business network has been accused of using Moscow front companies, tax havens in British overseas territories and European countries to transfer millions of dollars around the world for the Assad regime. The network, run by a Russian-Syrian businessman called Mudalal Khouri and his brothers, is said to have… Read More

10th July 2020

Amazon settles allegations of U.S. sanctions violations

Amazon.com Inc. agreed to settle allegations that it violated multiple U.S. sanctions regulations, the U.S. Treasury Department said Wednesday. The Seattle-based e-commerce giant allegedly provided goods and services to individuals or entities subject to U.S. sanctions, primarily due to deficiencies in the company’s automatic screening processes, according to… Read More

9th July 2020

Was Islamic State trying to sell €1 billion worth of drugs in Europe?

Last week Italian law enforcement agents carried out what they said was the world’s largest ever drugs bust of amphetamines. A video from the Guardia di Finanza, a financial crime and smuggling investigations unit attached to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, shows officers using circular saws to cut… Read More

6th July 2020

Report: More than 60 countries violated sanctions with North Korea last year

Sixty-two countries violated United Nations Security Council sanctions against North Korea over a one-year period, according to a report from a Washington, D.C.-based think tank The Institute for Science and International Security report, released Wednesday, cites over 250 alleged violations from February 2019 to February 2020 based on… Read More

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