On May 22, 2020, Ireland extradited Irish national John Slattery to the United States in response to an extradition request by the United States for his participation in trafficking horns from black rhinoceros.[1]

                On June 11, 2020, United States law enforcement arrested Michael Sang Correa, 41, a Gambian national, for torture charges arising out of his actions intended to cause severe physical pain and suffering on individuals in his custody and control in The Gambia in 2006.[1]

            The United States offers aid to the justice sectors and security forces of many Central American countries as a cornerstone policy to combat trafficking routes through the Northern Triangle.[1] Honduras is one of the most at risk countries in this region, where the illegal drug trade and resulting corruption take a heavy toll on the state’s institutions.[2] Consequently, the continuation and expansion of aid programs to Honduras is seen as critical to success in stabilizing the region and disrupting the flow of narcotics into the United States. The Honduran government recently passed the 2020 Air Sovereignty Law to help ensure the ongoing receipt of this aid and secure access to U.S. narcotics intelligence, but the new law comes amidst a concerning series of events.

On April 22, 2020, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) found the United States responsible for violating the human rights of Djamel Ameziane, a former detainee at the Guantánamo Bay detention facility.[1]

                On May 4, 2020, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the transfer of $311,797.876.11 to the Nigerian government pursuant to a February 3, 2020 trilateral agreement among the governments of the U.S., Nigeria, and Jersey.^[1] The agreement repatriates assets the U.S. forfeited that were traceable to the kleptocracy of former Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha and his co-conspirators.^[2]

On May 29, 2020, Sweden extradited a former Chinese official who was a fugitive for over five years. On June 1, 2020, Jianjun Qiao, 56, attended his arraignment in United States District Court in Los Angeles, California.[1]

                On June 11, 2020, United States law enforcement agents arrested Inigo Philbrick, an art dealer specializing in post-war and contemporary fine art, in Vanuatu.  The arrest followed Vanuatu’s expulsion of Philbrick at the request of the U.S. Embassy in Papua New Guinea, as a result charges in a Criminal Complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.[1]

            On June 1, 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a revision of its guidance on the Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs.[1] The Guidance sets forth for companies general principles and elements to consider when designing, implementing, and updating their compliance policies and procedures. The DOJ considers, in conducting an investigation of a corporation, whether to bring charges and negotiate plea or other agreements.[2]  In addition, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines advise that consideration be given to whether the corporation had in place at the time of the misconduct an effective compliance program for purposes of calculating the appropriate organizational criminal fee.[3] This article highlights the new Guidance and action items that entities with compliance programs should consider in light of the new Guidance.

On June 5, 2020, Europol started the new European Financial and Economic Crime Center (EFECC).  The European Union Anti-money Laundering Action Report[1] mentioned the start of the EFECC, partly in response to the various anti-money laundering scandals in the European Union (e.g., Danske Bank[2] and Swedbank.)[3]

                On June 3, 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska a forfeiture complaint[1] alleging that assets equivalent to more than $20 million are subject to forfeiture based on violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) and federal money laundering statutes.[2]