On July 19, 2019, the IRS Large Business and International Division (LB&I) announced the approval of additional compliance campaigns, including ones on taxpayers who participated in the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) and United States taxpayers who expatriated. With respect to Post-OVDP Compliance, John Cardone, director of Withholding & International Individual Compliance, is in charge.  The campaign observes that U.S. persons are subject to tax on worldwide income. This campaign addresses tax noncompliance related to former OVDP taxpayers’ failure to remain compliant with their foreign income and asset reporting requirements. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has a list of all the participants in the OVDP.  The IRS will address tax noncompliance through soft letters and examinations. 

On July 24, 2019, the European Commission adopted a Communication and four reports to support European and national authorities in strengthening their responses to money laundering and terrorist financing risks.[1] The report by the Commission toward better implementation of the EU’s anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism framework provides an overview of the four reports.  The supranational risk assessment report gives an update of sectoral risks associated with money laundering and terrorist financing.  The assessment of recent high-profile money laundering cases in the financial sector, the Financial Intelligence Units, and the interconnection of central bank account registries’ reports analyze the shortcomings in current anti-money laundering supervision and cooperation and identifies ways to address them.

On July 12, 2019, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, William M. McSwain, announced that Gregory Dow, 60, of Lancaster, PA was arrested and charged by Indictment with four counts of engaging in illicit sexual conduct in a foreign place. The Indictment alleges that from on or about October 14, 2013, until on or about September 13, 2017, Dow engaged in, and attempted to engage in, illicit sexual conduct with four different minor victims in Kenya. The defendant allegedly traveled from Lancaster County to Kenya in 2008 and started what came to be known as the Dow Family Children’s Home.  He carried out the activities with the financial support of his church and other organizations.  Dow purported to be a Christian missionary who would care for these orphans, who called him “Dad.”   Instead of being a father figure to them, he allegedly preyed on their youth and vulnerability.  In September 2017, the orphanage closed.  The indictment accuses the defendant of sexually abusing at least four minor girls who lived there during that time.

In the aftermath of the Environmental Investigation Agency’s (EIA)  report and video on illegal logging and export of wood covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), Dejia has denied wrongdoing.  The EIA has responded. This blog post also notes the various enforcement actions brought in the U.S. to prevent the importation of wood imported in contravention of CITES and the Lacey Act, some with the help of environmental non-governmental organizations, using data analytics, another action with the help of the bilateral customs enforcement agreement. It also describes a recent call for consultation requested by the United States Trade Representative to raise with Peru the apparent violation of the United States – Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA) by compromising the independence of the agency charged with policing illegal logging and export of illegally harvested wood.  Finally, the blog post mentions the role of environmental protection and enforcement in free trade agreements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

On July 17, 2019, the International Court of Justice (the Court) delivered a judgment in a very contentious case of a dispute between India and Pakistan, with a clear political overtone, finding, among other things, that Pakistan breached its obligations under Article 36, paragraph 1, of the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (the Convention). The proceedings started on May 8, 2017 when the Government of India filed in the Registry of the Court an application instituting proceedings against Pakistan alleging violations of the Convention in the matter of the detention and trial of an Indian national, Mr. Kulbhushan Sudhir Jadhav, sentenced to death by a military court in Pakistan. On the same day, India submitted a request for the indication of provisional measures, referring to Article 41 of the Statute of the Court and to Articles 73, 74, and 75 of the Rules of Court. By an Order of May 18, 2017, the Court indicated the following provisional measures: “Pakistan shall take all measures at its disposal to ensure that Mr. Jadhav is not executed pending the final decision in these proceedings and shall inform the Court of all the measures taken in implementation of the present Order”.

On May 22, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed and remanded the dismissal of claims by victims of Sudanese genocide and ethnic cleansing brought against BNP Paribas for allegedly illegally transacting with sanctioned entities and actively trying to evade U.S. detention, thereby providing the regime access to U.S. financial markets. BNP Paribas and its subsidiaries (BNPP) were convicted of federal and state felonies arising from their evasion of U.S. sanctions on Sudan.  In pleading guilty, BNPP admitted their knowledge of the genocide and ethnic cleansing perpetrated by the Sudanese regime, as well as the consequences of providing the regime access to additional financial resources, which could be used to escalate the commission of the atrocities. Plaintiffs, victims of the Sudanese regime’s atrocities, sued BNPP under New York tort law, alleging that BNPP conspired with and aided and abetted the Sudanese regime in its commission of widespread atrocities.

On June 11, 2019, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 2474 (2019), its first resolution to deal specifically with persons reported missing during armed conflict.  The Council condemned “the deliberate targeting of civilians or other protected persons in situations of armed conflict, and call[ed] upon all parties to armed conflict to put an end to such practices.” The Council asked such parties “to take all appropriate measures, to actively search for persons reported missing, to enable the return of their remains, and to account for persons reporting missing without adverse distinction and to put in place appropriate channels enabling response and communication with families on the search process.”

On June 20, 2019, the UK Court of Appeal (Civil Division) delivered a judgment ruling that ministers had acted unlawfully in allowing the sale of weapons when there was a clear possibility they might be used in violation of international humanitarian law in Yemen. In this ruling, a panel of the Court of Appeal judges, including Sir Terence Etherton, the master of the rolls, Lord Justice Irwin, and Lord Justice Singh, did not strictly prohibit the government from issuing new licenses but made clear that they felt it had fallen short of its duties. Ministers had failed “in one significant respect,” the judges said, by failing to determine whether the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen had violated international law. The Lords held that the consequence of allowing an appeal on one ground will be that “the matter will be remitted to the Secretary of State to reconsider in accordance with the correct legal approach.”

Two conflicting decisions have been issued with respect to the suits against United States President Donald Trump for violating the emoluments clause. On July 10, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit unanimously granted the President’s petition for a writ of mandamus and reversed the district court’s orders, concluding the District of Columbia and the State of Maryland lacked standing to sue. On June 25, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan denied a request by President Trump to put the emoluments case against him on hold.

On July 12, 2019, the United States extradited to Colombia Andres Felipe Arias Leiva, the Colombia Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2005 to 2009. He is set to serve a sentence of 209 months in prison after a 2014 conviction by the Supreme Court of Colombia for two offenses committed while in public office. In 2014, Arias fled to the U.S. after his conviction.  Once in Florida, he hired an immigration attorney and applied for asylum.  He claimed that the corruption charges were politically motivated and that he had not received a fair trial.