The US Department of Justice has used the Balt SAS case to send a dual message on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement. Companies that voluntarily self-disclose, cooperate fully and remediate quickly may secure a declination, but individuals tied to the same conduct remain firmly in prosecutors’ sights. That combination makes this a notable development for healthcare, life sciences and other internationally exposed sectors. Balt SAS, a France-headquartered medical device

The conviction of former Corsa Coal Corporation vice president Charles Hunter Hobson marks a significant Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) enforcement outcome for the Department of Justice (DoJ), reinforcing the risks facing senior executives engaged in overseas sales involving state-linked counterparties. The case centred on nearly $140 million in coal supply contracts with Egypt’s Al Nasr Company for Coke and Chemicals, a state-owned and state-controlled enterprise, and

For decades, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, and sanctions compliance have been treated as distinct disciplines. Each has its own regulators, specialists, and compliance programmes, all designed to address specific manifestations of financial crime. Yet in practice, these systems respond to the same underlying pathology: the misuse of power and opacity to extract value from the state. As the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) sharpens its focus on beneficial ownership an

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has launched a dedicated whistleblower webpage to confidentially receive tips relating to fraud, money laundering and sanctions violations. The move strengthens the United States Department of the Treasury’s intelligence-led enforcement framework and signals a continued focus on leveraging insider information to combat financial crime. FinCEN’s Office of the Whistleblower will accept information concerning violations and consp

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined two individuals a combined £108,731 for insider dealing linked to shares in Bidstack Group Plc, reinforcing its commitment to tackling market abuse and protecting market integrity. Dipesh Kerai has been fined £52,731 and Bhavesh Hirani £56,000 following enforcement action relating to unlawful trading in December 2021. At the time, Mr Hirani was interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Bidstack, an advertising technology company

A former TD Bank employee has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and facilitating the laundering of more than 5.5 million dollars to Colombia, in a case that starkly illustrates the continuing vulnerability of banks to insider-enabled financial crime. On 30 January 2026, the US Department of Justice announced that Leonardo Ayala, a 25-year-old from Homestead, Florida, admitted to exploiting his role at TD Bank to support a cross-border money laundering scheme linked to drug t

A senior official at the United States African Development Foundation (USADF) has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges after admitting to accepting illicit gratuities from a government contractor and making false statements to law enforcement. The case highlights persistent vulnerabilities in public sector contracting oversight, particularly in the management of overseas development funds. On 30 January 2026, the US Department of Justice announced that Mathieu Z

A former General Services Administration (GSA) contracting officer’s representative has pleaded guilty to a bribery conspiracy, reinforcing longstanding concerns around corruption risks in public procurement and government contracting. The case underscores how abuse of authority within procurement functions continues to present significant integrity and financial crime risks, despite established controls and oversight frameworks. On 29 January 2026, Lennie Lamont Miller, aged

The US Department of Justice Antitrust Division and the US Postal Service have made their first-ever whistleblower payment, awarding $1 million to an individual whose report exposed a criminal antitrust and fraud scheme in the used vehicle auction market. The case marks a watershed moment for US competition enforcement and materially strengthens incentives for insiders to report cartel conduct. The whistleblower’s information led to charges against EBLOCK Corporation, an inte

In the fifteen years since the Bribery Act 2010 entered into force across the UK, corporate-compliance frameworks have adjusted dramatically. Yet despite the zero-tolerance rhetoric and the sophisticated anti-bribery, corruption and facilitation payment programmes now ubiquitous in large firms, the phenomenon of low-value facilitation payments remains surprisingly resilient in global finance. This persistence reveals more than just enforcement gaps: it exposes a deeper cultur

An indictment unsealed in Washington DC on 26 January 2026 has charged a former NATO procurement official and a Turkish defence contractor with operating a long running bribery scheme linked to US military and NATO construction contracts. The case underscores persistent corruption risks in defence procurement and the vulnerabilities created when insider access intersects with high value international contracts. According to the US Department of Justice, Bahadir Hatipoglu, a T

A former US biotech chief executive has been sentenced to prison after misleading investors about a purported breakthrough drug and selling his own shares at inflated prices. On 26 January 2026, Nader Pourhassan, the former Chief Executive Officer of CytoDyn, received a 30 month prison sentence for securities fraud, wire fraud and insider trading, marking another high profile enforcement action against corporate executives who abuse market trust. Pourhassan, aged 62, was conv