On April 29, 2021, the State Minister for Culture and Media of the German Government, announced the signing by the ministry and the Nigerian Government of a joint declaration to return Benin bronzes in German museums.[1]

On April 27, 2021, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas announced a new counter-network targeting operation focused on transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) affiliated with the smuggling of migrants.[1] On April 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned one current and one former Guatemalan government official for their roles in corruption in Guatemala.[2]

On March 26, 2021, the European Union Committee (the Committee) of the UK House of Lords (HL) published its report on the implications for law enforcement and criminal judicial cooperation between the EU and UK from the end of the transition period.

In 2019, Johannes Stefannson, a former employee of Samherji, an Icelandic fishing company, realized that his employer was exploiting and bribing Namibian officials for fishing rights. Stefannson terminated his employment with Samherji and released documents to Wikileaks. Leaked documents set out a series of events that led to Samherji’s prosecution in Namibia.[1] Two years later, in April 2021, three Samherji employees face extradition to Namibia to stand trial. The Namibian officials who allegedly partook in the scandal are expected to appear in court with the Samherji employees.[2] While the Fishrot trial is far from over, it demonstrates much-needed reform to not only Namibia’s fishing industry but its anti-corruption policy.

            On April 19, 2021, the Rwandan government released a report that found France enabled the genocide in Rwanda that left as many as 800,000 dead in 1994. [1]

On April 22, 2021, at its 14^th sitting, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted Resolution and Recommendation on the arrest and detention of Alexei Navalny in January 2021. The debate as well as the Resolution and Recommendation were based on a Report prepared by the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights.^[1]

On April 26, 2021, Switzerland’s Migros Bank announced it has agreed to enter into a settlement with German prosecutors to pay $2.9 million to resolve allegations it permitted and helped German taxpayers to conceal assets from the German tax authorities.[1]

On April 6, 2021, Raymond Kohut, a Canadian citizen, pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn to the Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecution of a Ecuadorian bribery case relating to his former employer, the Swiss commodities trading firm Gunvor Group. The case is representative of prosecutors’ willingness to pursue corruption charges against individuals as well as of prosecutors’ targeting of commodities traders for offenses such as bribery and money laundering.

On April 15, 2021, Eurojust announced a new urgent funding option for Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) to increase efforts against serious organized cross-border crime.  Eurojust is starting an initiative to urgently fund cross-border operational activities of JITs.  The fund will furnish targeted, short-term grants for JITs’ urgent and /or unforeseen activities.[1]

On April 13, 2021, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) issued a statement responding to questions concerning the exchange of personal data between public authorities under existing international agreements in different areas. The EDPB recalls the requirements of Article 96 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Article 61 Law Enforcement Directive (LED).[1] Those provisions require all international agreements concerning the transfer of personal data to third countries or international organizations which were concluded by the EU Members prior to May 24, 2016 or May 6, 2016, respectively, and which comply with EU law as applicable prior to that date, must remain in force until amended, replaced, or revoked.[2]