On February 9, 2018, the United Nations Secretary-General transmitted to the Human Rights Council the report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Fionnuala Ni Aoláin. The report was submitted in accordance with Assembly resolution 72/180 and Human Rights Council resolutions 31/3 and 35/34.

On February 7, 2018, Rabobank N.A. (Rabobank), a California-based subsidiary of Cooperatieve Rabobank U.A.,  a Dutch multinational banking company, entered a guilty plea to a felony count of Conspiracy to Commit an Offense against the U.S. and to Defraud the U.S. in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 371.  It also agreed to forfeit $368,701,259 in money laundering proceeds that the bank permitted to pass through its accounts. In essence, Rabobank admitted that it allowed narcotics traffickers, human traffickers and other criminals to use its banking branches to engage in structuring and money laundering, failed to file, or at least to file timely, Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR’s) for suspicious activities.  These unlawful activities continued from at least 2009 until 2012.

 On January 30, shortly before delivering his first State of the Union address, President Trump signed an executive order rolling back efforts by his predecessor, Barack Obama, to close Guantanamo Bay, vowing instead to keep it open indefinitely. Trump also indicated that he intends to use the prison to detain future terrorism suspects, which would be the first time in a decade that new prisoners have been brought into the facility. Although President Obama was unable to overcome opposition in order to close the facility for good, his administration was able to transfer a total of 196 of its prisoners overseas.  Now 41 detainees remain, only a small minority of who have ever been charged with a crime or completed trial in a military court.

On February 8, 2018, the Conference of Presidents of the European Parliament agreed to establish a Special Committee on financial crime, tax fraud and tax avoidance.  The Committee constitutes the 4^th committee after TAXE, TAX2, and the Committee on Inquiry PANA.  The Committee is designed to respond to the publication of the Paradise Papers by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).

On Monday, January 29, 2018, the Justice Department announced charges against eight individuals accused of manipulating U.S. commodities markets for financial gain. Seven of the eight individuals were charged with spoofing. Spoofing refers to a manipulative market tactic that involves the placing of hundreds to thousands of “spoof orders” – orders that the spoofer does not intend to trade – in order to incentive market participants to buy, sell, or trade at artificial prices. In doing so, spoofing fools market participants to make their investment decisions based on a false perception of supply and demand.

On February 6, 2018, Senior District Judge (the Chief Magistrate) Emma Arbuthnot denied Julian Assange’s application to withdraw an arrest warrant issued at this court when Assange did not surrender for extradition to Sweden. On February 13, 2018, Judge Arbuthnot considered the public interest arguments and whether it is in the public interest to initiate proceedings against Assange under Section 6 of the Bail Act.

    On February 7, 2018, the battle between Chris Brann, a Houston physician and his wife, Marcelle Guimaraes, over the custody of their 8-year-old son Nicolas Brann escalated when federal agents at Miami’s airport arrest the child’s Brazilian grandparents Carlos and Jemima Guimaraes at Miami’s airport after their flight landed from Brazil.  Both of them have been charged with conspiracy and international parental kidnapping.

 On February 12, 2018, the Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and other law enforcement officials announced the unsealing of an indictment against five former Venezuelan government officials for their alleged participation in an international money laundering scheme involving bribes made to corruptly secure energy contracts from Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA).  Two of the defendants are also charged with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

On February 6, 2018, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on “Beneficial Ownership: Fighting Illicit International Financial Networks Through Transparency.” The hearing was the latest in a series of hearing on the issue of anonymous corporations.                

On February 1, 2018, the Ireland’s Supreme Court  delivered its decision in the case Minister for Justice and Equality v. O’Connor. The Court refused to extradite an Irish businessman to the United Kingdom upon a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by the London court. At the same time, the Court ruled that the case should be referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg.