Episode 268

17th July – 19th July 2026

Sanctions

UN Security Council Adds Six Individuals and Two Entities to Democratic Republic of the Congo Sanctions List

The United Nations Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1533 (2004) concerning the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) approved the addition of six individuals and two entities to its sanctions list. The designated individuals include prominent leaders and military commanders from various armed groups operating in the region: Corneille Nangaa Yobeluo of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC); Sebastien Uwimbabazi and Gustave Kubwayo of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR); Muhammed Lumisa of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF); Charles Sematama of Twirwaneho; and M23 intelligence chief John Imani Nzenze. Alongside these individuals, the committee blacklisted the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) and the Congolese armed group Twirwaneho. The listings cite involvement in activities which undermine the peace, stability, and security of the DRC, including committing atrocities such as the killing of civilians and the recruitment of children. Under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, all newly listed parties are subject to the restrictive measures imposed by the Security Council.

US Treasury Sanctions Over 50 Entities and Vessels Linked to Shamkhani Shipping Network

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has designated more than 50 individuals, entities, and vessels tied to the global shipping and sanctions evasion network of Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani. Acting under Executive Order 13902 following a resumption of destabilising attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, OFAC targeted key logistics associates and major containerised shipping firms, including Singapore-based Sea Lead Shipping PTE. Ltd. and its international subsidiaries. The designations block all US-based assets of the targeted parties and generally prohibit US persons from engaging in transactions involving their property. While Treasury officials state these measures aim to degrade the financial infrastructure facilitating Iran's oil exports, compliance analysts suggest that the expansive, multi-jurisdictional footprint of the network, which stretches across Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, India, and the Caspian Sea, may present persistent monitoring challenges for global maritime trade.

UK Government Updates Sanctions Lists with Sudan and DRC Designations, Libya Revocation, and Licensing Amendments

The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) have enacted several major adjustments to the UK's financial sanctions framework. First, the FCDO added 11 new designations under the Sudan sanctions regime, targeting individuals and corporate entities, including state-owned gold mining enterprises like Ariab Mining Company and Sudamin, as well as private brokerage networks, accused of supplying funds, weapons, or conflict gold revenues to the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. Concurrently, the UK designated eight entities and individuals under the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) regime, incorporating United Nations-derived listings for armed factions like the Alliance Fleuve Congo and Twirwaneho, alongside commanders from the M23, FDLR, and ADF. The same day, the UK revoked the December 2020 designation of Baroque Investments Limited, an Isle of Man-based subsidiary of the Libyan Investment Authority, removing all asset freeze and director disqualification measures against it. Finally, OFSI amended General Licence INT/2025/5787748, which regulates arbitration costs under the Russia and Belarus sanctions regimes, continuing to permit capped payments of up to £500,000 to cover legal and administrative expenses for arbitrations involving designated parties, subject to strict reporting and record-keeping requirements.

Money Laundering

US Authorities Prosecute Dual Money Laundering Schemes Involving Chinese Network and Bank Insiders

The US Department of Justice has announced major developments in two separate money laundering cases involving international networks and financial sector facilitators. First, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn unsealed an indictment charging Zhuoying Chen and Haojie Zhang with money laundering conspiracy. The defendants allegedly operated a network in Queens and Brooklyn which used approximately 45 shell companies and 140 bank accounts to launder at least $43 million in proceeds from "pig butchering" cyber-investment scams, funnelling the funds overseas to China. Secondly, a former TD Bank assistant manager, Wilfredo Aquino, and former retail employee, Edward Low, were sentenced to prison terms of 46 months and 24 months, respectively, for facilitating separate illicit schemes from within the banking system. Aquino admitted to processing over $92 million in official bank cheques for a major laundering network while failing to file accurate currency transaction reports in exchange for bribes, while Low was sentenced for taking bribes to leak confidential customer data and falsifying records to open fraudulent shell company accounts.

FATF Warns of Sophisticated Criminal Exploitation of Virtual Assets Amid Regulatory Implementation Gaps

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has released a new report warning that transnational criminal networks are exploiting uneven global regulatory frameworks to move billions of dollars in illicit proceeds through the virtual asset sector. While 83% of surveyed jurisdictions have passed legislation to implement the anti-money laundering "Travel Rule", up from 73% in 2025, the global standards setter found that many countries are still struggling to translate these legal frameworks into effective supervision and enforcement in practice. According to the report, illicit actors are rapidly adapting to regulatory actions by using decentralised finance (DeFi) platforms, artificial intelligence (including deepfakes and synthetic identities), and even developing proprietary stablecoins designed specifically to resist asset freezing and law enforcement seizure. To illustrate the scale of this exploitation, the FATF highlighted a Cambodia-based conglomerate which successfully laundered at least $4 billion in illicit proceeds between 2021 and 2025, serving both organised crime fraud schemes and cyber theft operations.

Fraud

US Federal Courts Sentence Defendants in Separate Procurement, Commercial, and COVID-19 Tax Credit Fraud Schemes

Federal judges in Maryland, Montana, and Nevada sentenced individuals for their roles in three unrelated fraud schemes involving government contracting, commercial business transactions, and pandemic aid programmes. In Maryland, former US Census Bureau supervisory official Camille Jones was sentenced on 16th July to two years in prison for her involvement in a conspiracy to steer a multi-million dollar employee assistance programme contract to her relative's firm in exchange for $790,000 in kickbacks. On 15th July in Montana, Chad Miller Costello was sentenced to four years in prison and fined $50,000 for running a fraudulent scrap metal scheme from 2018 to 2023, in which he pocketed money by acquiring scrap metal from businesses across the country, selling it to recyclers, and withholding contracted payments from his customers. Concurrently, on 15th July in Nevada, businesswoman Adonia Stiles received an 18-month prison sentence and was ordered to pay $7,079,121.48 in restitution for conspiring to submit false employment tax returns which fraudulently claimed COVID-19 tax credits, resulting in more than $7 million in fraudulent refunds being disbursed by the US government.

UK Authorities Secure Convictions in Pandemic PPE Deception and Collaborate on Transnational Cyber-Scam Arrests

In the UK, the National Crime Agency (NCA) announced major enforcement successes in two separate fraud investigations involving domestic procurement deception and transnational celebrity impersonation scams. First, a five-week trial at Leicester Crown Court concluded with the conviction of Jogesh Bhandari, Meenakashi Bhandari, and Craig Morris, who fraudulently claimed to facilitate multi-million dollar nitrile glove supply deals during the Covid-19 pandemic to finance luxury lifestyles. Operating in coordination with Frank Labruzzo, a now-convicted US Assistant Attorney General who provided fraudulent escrow services, the group diverted customer funds to purchase luxury vehicles, Rolex watches, and high-end home renovations. Concurrently, the NCA disclosed that international intelligence sharing with Meta and the Nigerian Police Force led to the 4th July 2026, arrest of six suspected scammers in Delta State, Nigeria. These individuals allegedly operated an organised scam centre which impersonated internationally recognised celebrities to target victims in the UK and globally, demonstrating active bilateral cooperation under an anti-cybercrime memorandum of understanding signed between the UK and Nigeria in April 2025.

Bribery and Corruption

UN-Backed Educational and Digital Initiatives Target Systemic Corruption in Haiti and Kyrgyzstan

United Nations agencies are supporting targeted anti-corruption programmes in Haiti and Kyrgyzstan by focusing on professional education, youth engagement, and administrative transparency. In Haiti, the country's Anti-Corruption Unit (ULCC), with support from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), has established approximately 50 school "integrity clubs" alongside intensive summer schools for students and young civil society leaders to foster civic responsibility and counter systemic financial crime. Concurrently, in the Kyrgyz Republic, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is supporting a practice-oriented master’s programme in effective governance and anti-corruption. This educational curriculum has led to the implementation of 13 new digital solutions in government bodies by recent graduates, including a Telegram bot developed for the Bishkek urban planning department designed to eliminate direct staff-to-citizen contact. These parallel UN initiatives aim to replace institutional vulnerabilities with systemic transparency, cultivating a new generation of public sector integrity leaders to drive long-term institutional reform.

Cybercrime

Global Law Enforcement Coordinates Sanctions, Indictments, and Prison Sentences in Cybercrime Crackdowns

On cybercrime news, international law enforcement agencies unsealed major indictments, secured historic convictions, and deployed joint sanctions to dismantle transnational cybercrime infrastructure and state-sponsored networks. In the United States, an unsealed federal indictment charged Russian nationals Alexander Alexandrovich Volosovik, Kirill Andreevich Zatolokin, and Yulia Vladimirovna Pankova alongside their St. Petersburg-based "bulletproof hosting" firms, Medialand LLC and ML.Cloud LLC, with hosting illicit services which facilitated ransomware attacks resulting in over $62 million in losses across 21 states. Concurrently in the United Kingdom, the National Crime Agency secured five-and-a-half-year prison sentences on 16th July 2026, for Thalha Jubair and Owen Flowers, members of the "Scattered Spider" collective, following their landmark prosecution for a September 2024 cyberattack on Transport for London which caused £29 million in recovery costs and widespread transit disruptions. Pointing to the rising geopolitical dimensions of these threats, the UK's ambassador to the OSCE has highlighted the newly enacted National Security (State Threats) Act 2026 and a joint UK-EU cyber sanctions package targeting senior Russian GRU officers and hostile cyber operations like Russia's FSB Centre 16, as significant developments. This coordinated push aligns with long-running, multi-agency successes such as Operation EMMA, an ongoing French- and Dutch-led joint investigation which dismantled the encrypted communications platform EncroChat, which has to date resulted in over 6,550 arrests and nearly €900 million in seized or frozen illicit funds worldwide.