On March 2, 2022, U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland announced the start of Task Force KleptoCapture to enforce sanctions, export restrictions, and economic countermeausres the U.S. has issued, in coordination with U.S. allies, in response to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.  Task Force KleptoCapture will aim to enforce these actions that are designed to isolate Russia from global markets.  In particular, the U.S. restrictions target the crimes of Russian officials, government-aligned elites, and persons who help or conceal their unlawful conduct.  On March 3, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the first indictment for Russian sanctions violations.

The conflict initiated by Russia in Ukraine has spouted one proceeding in an international tribunal and resulted in another monitoring the developments with an eye to starting an investigation.  On February 25, 2022, the International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan QC issued a statement on the situation in Ukraine. He said he has been “closely following recent developments in and around Ukraine with increasing concern.”  On February 27, Khan announced he decided to proceed with opening an investigation into the Situation in Ukraine, as rapidly as possible.  On February 27, Ukraine filed  an  application instituting  proceedings  against  the Russian  Federation  before  the International  Court  of  Justice (ICJ) concerning  “a dispute  .  .  .  relating  to  the interpretation, application  and  fulfilment of  the  1948  Convention on the  Prevention and Punishment of  the  Crime  of  Genocide” (the “Genocide Convention”).

On February 17, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced its first director of National Cryptocurrency Enforcement.  The announcement followed close on a settlement on February 14 between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and BlockFi for failing to register the offers and sales of its retail crypto lending product.  Meanwhile, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are battling to authority to regulate cryptocurrency.

On February 20, 2022, the Panama Papers-style results of investigations were published. They reveal secrets about Credit Suisse’s (CS) accounts and identity of its clients.

 An extraordinary leak of data from Credit Suisse, one of the world’s most iconic banks, is exposing how the bank allegedly held hundreds of millions of dollars for heads of state, intelligence officials, sanctioned businessmen, and human rights abusers, among many others.[1]

On December 27, 2021, President Joe Biden signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) into law.^[1] The NDAA contains Sec. 6503, “Transnational Repression Accountability and Prevention,” (TRAP) which incorporates, with substantial alterations, provisions from the TRAP Acts introduced on a bipartisan basis in both the Senate and the House in 2019 and 2021.

On February 18, 2022, the media reported that Angolan Justice Minister Francisco Queiroz has said his government has recovered assets worth more than $11 billion that had been stolen and/or embezzled from the government and placed abroad.

On February 15, 2022, police in Belgium and Spain arrested 45 people as part of an ongoing international investigation of a cocaine trafficking network.  In Belgium, police detained 30 people and carried out 49 searches across the country, mainly located in Brussels and Antwerp.  Across Europe, over 600 law enforcement officers executed raids against suspected members of the crime ring in Spain, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

On February 15, 2022, Honduran law enforcement authorities arrested former President Juan Orlando Hernández on an extradition warrant from the United States.  The extradition warrant alleges he participated in a “violent drug-trafficking conspiracy.”[1]

On February 13, 2022, Mexico’s agriculture ministry announced the suspension of U.S. avocado inspections in Michoacan as the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the inspections of avocados for export from Mexico’s Michoacan state will remain suspended until the U.S. is able to ensure the safety of U.S. inspectors working in Mexico after employees were threatened verbally.[1]  On February 18, the U.S. lifted the ban. On February 14, 2022, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office filed an environmental complaint against Mexico due to its failure to halt illegal fishing to protect the endangered vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise.[2]

On February 10, 2022, the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California announced the arrest of a customs broker on a federal grand jury indictment charging him with evading the payment of $1.5 million in taxes and participating in a $4.4 million wire fraud scheme, overcharging a Japanese variety store client on customs duties.[1]