On March 21, 2025, an English court denied Moldovan businessman Veaceslav Platon bail on extradition proceedings. Moldova has requested his extradition over an alleged $22 billion money laundering conspiracy.[1]

On March 5, 2025, the Justice Department, FBI, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, and Departments of State and Treasury announced their collective campaign to target the insidious cyber-crimes of twelve Chinese nationals. These individuals spanned several organizations and worked to suppress criticism of the PRC abroad and loot private data. The hackers were working as either contractors or employees of Anxun Information Technology Co. Ltd. (also known as “i-Soon”) and were members of Advanced Persistent Threat 27 (“APT27”).[1] The two public officials involved in the scheme came from the People’s Republic of China’s (“PRC”) Ministry of Public Security (“MPS”) and allegedly directed the hackers to conduct “computer intrusions” and steal data—for which the MPS paid handsomely.[2] The Department of Justice (“DOJ”) alleges that the hacking scheme was composed of a network of private companies, with the hope that the PRC would be shielded from culpability. Victims of the hacking include “U.S.-based critics and dissidents of the PRC, a large religious organization in the United States, the foreign ministries of multiple governments in Asia, and U.S. federal and state government agencies, including the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury) in late 2024,” with some being singled out by the MPS for targeting.[3]

On March 18, 2025, Europol launched a new edition of its report – published on January 15, 2025 – on “The changing DNA of serious and organised crime.”[1]

On March 17, 2025, the United States Department of Justice informed Michael Schmid, president of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (EUROJUST), that the United States is withdrawing from the International Center for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine.[1] Almost simultaneously, the Trump administration ended its support for the database on war crimes in Ukraine.

In March 2025, former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte was taken into custody by the International Criminal Court (ICC) following his arrest in Manila on murder charges linked to his “war on drugs” in which thousands of purported dealers and users were killed.[1]

On February 6, 2025, Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court overturned the conviction of a Canadian entrepreneur due to ne bis in idem.

Transnational repression––the practice of authoritarian regimes targeting dissidents beyond their borders—has become an increasingly urgent issue, threatening not only individual freedoms but also the integrity of host nations that provide refuge to exiles. A new report from Freedom House covering a decade of data highlights the extent of this phenomenon, detailing 1,219 incidents perpetrated by 48 governments in 103 countries. As democracies work to counter these tactics, the issue remains fraught with challenges, including a lack of a uniform definition, legal gaps in protection mechanisms, and concerns over the misuse of Interpol red notices to justify politically motivated extraditions.[1]

On March 2, 2025, the United States charged Mohammad Sharifullah, also known as “Jafar,” a member of the terrorist organization the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham-Khorasan Province (ISIS-K), with furnishing and conspiring to provide material support and resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization resulting in death, contravening 18 U.S.C. § 2339B.[1]  

On February 28, 2025, London’s High Court, the Court of Appeal, delivered its ruling in the widely reported case of Mr. Sanjay Bhandari[1] refusing his extradition to India.

On February 24, 2025, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that Aux Cayes Fintech Co. Ltd, d/b/a “OkEx,” d/b/a “OKX”, a Seychelles-based entity that since 2017 has operated one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, pled guilty to one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.[1] OKX agreed to pay monetary penalties of more than $504 million.[2]