On April 22, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9^th Circuit affirmed the dismissal by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for failure to state a claim of an action brought under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by Almaty, the capital city in Kazakhstan.[1]

As the frauds and related crimes from Covid-19 occur, international organizations worldwide are providing guidance and assistance to their members to prevent, investigate, and prosecute crimes arising from the pandemic.  This article looks in particular at the efforts of the Egmont Group, IOSCO, and Eurojust.

On April 8, 2020, the High Court of Justice, Queen’s Bench Division, Administrative Court overturned lower court’s orders in favor of Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWOs) and related interim freezing orders (IFOs).[1] The lower court issued the orders based on the applications of the National Crime Agency (“NCA”), which were filed without notice to the Respondents.  The Respondents applied to discharge the orders.

In a letter dated January 27, 2020, Judge Jorge Guzmán Urquilla of the Examining Court of San Francisco Gotera asked U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for all the documentation that the U.S. has to make available regarding the massacre at El Mozote, El Salvador, including the military officials accused of perpetrating the crime.[1] In addition to Secretary Pompeo, copies of the letter were sent to Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Robert P. Ashley, Jr., and Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel. 

On April 17, 2020, the UK High Court delivered a judgment awarding $11 million in damages and expenses to a former partner at global accounting firm Ernst & Young (EY) who exposed money laundering at a major gold refinery in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The ruling follows a long-running saga involving a gold-importing scam and claims of a cover-up.

On March 19, 2020, the European Court of Justice (ECJ), acting on  a request for a preliminary ruling from the Sofia City Court, Bulgaria, ruled that European Union (EU) law does not preclude Member States from providing for civil proceedings for confiscation that are unrelated to a finding of a criminal offense.[1]

On Monday, April 6, 2020, the Trump administration designated the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM), an ultranationalist white supremacist group, as a terrorist organization on the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” list and imposed sanctions upon its members.[1] The step was announced by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and his counterterrorism coordinator Nathan Sales. The designation makes it illegal for Americans to engage in any transactions with the group and freezes any assets it may have in U.S. jurisdictions.[2]

On March 23, 2020, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) issued a report identifying the implications of global stablecoin initiatives for securities regulators. IOSCO is the international policy forum for securities regulators and a global standard setter for securities regulation.  Global Stablecoin Initiatives (“the Report”) discusses the regulatory issues arising from the use of global stablecoins and explores how existing IOSCO Principles and Standards could apply to these arrangements.[1]  The Report was prepared by IOSCO’s Fintech Network as part of an effort to evaluate global stablecoin proposals from a securities market regulator’s perspective.

On April 4, 2020, a Portuguese court seized the shares in telecommunications firm NOS of a holding company that Isabel dos Santos, the former first daughter and Angolan businesswoman, owned half of.[1] Sonaecom, a sub-holding of Portugals’s Sonae, said the court ordered the seizure concerning allegedly fraudulent schemes involving Isabel dos Santos.

On April 4, 2020, INTERPOL warned that cybercriminals are targeting critical healthcare institutions with ransomware. In response, the organization announced its Cybercrime Threat Response team is working closely with private partners in the cybersecurity industry to collection information and provide support to organizations targeted by ransomware.[1]  On April 6, 2020, INTERPOL issued a global threat assessment and, shortly before that, published international guidelines that outline the various roles carried out by law enforcement and how officers can protect themselves and their families during a pandemic.[2]