On December 15, 2023, the Japanese authorities transferred to the United States U.S. Navy officer Lt. Ridge Alkonis, pursuant to a prisoner transfer treaty between both nations. Alkonis was imprisoned in Japan as a result of negligent homicide resulting in the death of two persons.[1]U.S. officials have stated that Alkonis has been remanded to U.S. custody, where he will eventually have a hearing before the U.S. parole commissioner to determine his future disposition.

 On November 30, 2023, a court sentenced a British solicitor to nine months of suspended imprisonment for 18 months following his conviction for “tipping off” his client about a money laundering investigation. The court sentenced William Osmond, 69, and ordered him to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

On December 4, 2023, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of three petitions by siblings to quash IRS summonses issued for their bank records at the request of Peruvian authorities.  The appellate court in a per curiam decision found that the court did not err in denying an evidentiary hearing with respect to bad faith by the requesting Peruvian government and properly refused to hold a hearing.

As part of Saudi Vision 2023, the Financial Sector Development Program seeks to strengthen financial sector institutions. This initiative, which was introduced in 2018, intends to contribute to the accomplishment of 21 more Vision 2030 strategic goals in an indirect manner. 

In July 2023, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) published its second-ever Conflict Index (acleddata.com/acled-conflict-index-mid-year-update). The index, which updates every six months and was first launched in January 2023, measures the intensity and intractability of political violence in more than 240 territories and countries around the world.

On December 6, 2023, United States law enforcement announced the unsealing of war crimes charges against four Russian military personnel in the Eastern District of Virginia.[1]  The charges were torture, inhuman treatment, and unlawful confinement of a U.S. national in Ukraine following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

On December 6, 2023, a British hedge fund trader Sanjay Shah arrived in Denmark after the United Arab Emirates extradited him to stand trial over allegations that he made fraudulent applications for $1.8 billion in dividend tax refunds.

On December 6, 2023, United States law enforcement authorities unsealed two separate indictments against Hans Maria De Geetere, 61, of Knokke-Heist, Belgium, charging him with crimes concerning a years-long scheme to unlawfully export sensitive, military-grade technology from the U.S. to end users located in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Russian Federation.

On December 4, 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced the start of a Counter-Fentanyl Strike Force to assemble Treasury’s resources and expertise in a coordinated and streamlined operation to combat the trafficking of illicit fentanyl.  

On December 4, 2023, Swiss private bank Banque Pictet et Cie SA (hereafter “Pictet”)entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in the U.S. Court for the Southern District of New York for conspiring with U.S. taxpayers and others to conceal more than $5.6 billion in 1,637 secret bank accounts in Switzerland and elsewhere and to hide the income generated in those accounts from the IRS.[1]