Both the Council of Europe and the European Parliament^[1] continue involvement in the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

On September 9, Roxanne Chantereau, co-founder of the JACK Primate Rehabilitation Center in Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo found that three chimpanzees had been gone missing.  Later that day via WhatsApp, she would receive a video showing the three missing infant primates in a filthy hovel and a ransom demand of six figures.  Congo’s National Intelligence Agency has begun an investigation into the matter and “consider the robbing of these babies as a security threat for the country.”

On October 6, 2022, the IRS announced that IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Mexico City has found 79 criminal fugitives in Mexico, Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras as part of a new initiative. [1]

On October 12, 2022, U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed the civil action brought by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) against Stephen A. Wynn, whereby the DOJ sought an injunction forcing him to register as such under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

On October 6, 2022, Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB), a joint OECD/UNDP initiative, issued an annual report, showing it has expanded its services to furnish practical hands-on assistance on criminal tax investigation, the effective use of automatic exchange of information data, digitalization of tax administrations, and tax and the environment.  The annual report states the initiative has brought a total of $1.7 billion in additional tax assessed across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean.

On October 7, 2022, President Joseph Biden signed an Executive Order on Enhancing Safeguards for United States Signals Intelligence Activities (E.O.) directing the steps that the U.S. will take to implement the U.S. commitments under the European Union-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (EU-U.S. DPF) announced by President Biden and European Commission President von der Leyen in March of 2022.   The goal of the order is to implement the framework to respond to the European Court of Justice (CJEU) Order in Schrems II (July 16, 2020), which found serious gaps in the way the U.S. protects personal data.  By upgrading the U.S. privacy shield and providing a multilayer redress mechanism with independent and binding authority for EU individuals to seek redress if they believe they are unlawfully targeted by U.S. intelligence activities, the U.S. is trying to implement the framework and respond to the gaps pointed out by the CJEU.[1]

On October 5, 2022, the Council of the European Union added three jurisdictions  to its list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, also known as its tax haven black list.  They include Anguilla, Bahamas and Turks, and Caicos. The three Caribbean countries were added because, according to the Council, they facilitate offshore structures and arrangements aimed at attracting profits without real economic substance by failing to take all necessary actions to ensure the effective implementation of substance requirements under criterion 2.2.    American Samoa, Fiji, Guam, Palau, Panama, Samoa, Trinidad and Tobago, the US Virgin Islands, and Vanuatu are also part of the list.

The 11th Public Edition of the Basel AML Index was released on October 4, 2022. The Basel AML Index is an independent ranking of money laundering and terrorist financing (ML/TF) risks around the world, published by the Basel Institute on Governance since 2012 through its International Centre for Asset Recovery. The composite index draws on 18 indicators measuring different factors that contribute to high ML/TF risks and are relevant to assessing jurisdictions’ capacity to counter their risks. The indicators are categorized in five domains: Quality of anti-money laundering/counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) Framework; Bribery and Corruption; Financial Transparency and Standards; Public Transparency and Accountability; and Legal and Political Risks. The Basel AML Index thus seeks to reflect a holistic picture of money laundering risk, beyond the narrow focus on AML/CFT systems.

In July of 2022, approximately five months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG) released a draft law for a Ukrainian High War Crimes Court (UHWCC). The draft law was prepared by PILPG in collaboration with Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and Ukrainian and international experts. 

On September 27, 2022, the Spanish court in the town of Esplugues de Llobregat near Barcelona said Shakira will go on trial for six counts of tax fraud at a date yet to be set.  Spanish prosecutors charged Shakira in 2018 of failing to pay 14.5 million euros ($13.9 million) in taxes on income earned between 2012 and 2014.  Prosecutors have asked for a sentence of eight years in prison and a large fine.[1]