The United States has filed civil forfeiture complaints seeking the seizure of more than $15.3 million allegedly linked to an illicit Iranian oil shipping and distribution network operating in violation of US sanctions. The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleges the funds were used to support a sanctions evasion scheme tied to Iran’s National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including the IRGC-Quds Force (IRGC-QF), both designated Fore

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) has filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking the seizure of a crude oil tanker and approximately 1.8 million barrels of oil allegedly connected to sanctions evasion involving Iran and Venezuela. The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, targets the motor tanker Skipper , which was seized on the high seas in December 2025. Authorities also seek forfeiture of the cargo on board, consisting of crude oil suppl

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 Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has published updated guidance on financial sanctions enforcement and monetary penalties, marking a significant recalibration of the UK’s sanctions compliance framework. The revisions, effective from 14 February 2026, introduce new early resolution mechanisms, clearer penalty discounts and a structured four-level seriousness model designed to enhance transparency, proportionality and predictability. The updated guidance

Two men have been sentenced to prison for conspiring to illegally export nearly $4 million worth of military-grade weapons to sanctioned South Sudan, in breach of United States export controls and international arms embargo restrictions. On 6 February 2026, Peter Biar Ajak, 42, of Maryland, was sentenced to 46 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release by United States District Judge Sharad H. Desai in the District of Arizona. His co-defendant, Abraham Chol Ke

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation's £160,000 monetary penalty against Bank of Scotland plc is not significant because of its size, nor because it followed voluntary disclosure. It matters because it shows, with unusual clarity, how the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) now evaluates sanctions compliance in practice. The case illustrates a decisive shift in regulatory emphasis. Transliteration risk is treated not as a technical anomaly but as a

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has published its response to a public consultation on significant changes to its enforcement framework, marking a material shift in how the UK enforces financial sanctions. Announced on 29 January 2026 by Giles Thomson, Director of OFSI, the revised approach is designed to deliver faster outcomes, greater transparency for firms and a more robust deterrent against sanctions breaches. The reforms follow a 2025 cross-gover

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has signalled a clear escalation in its approach to cryptoassets, confirming that digital assets are now firmly embedded within the UK’s sanctions enforcement perimeter. In a blog published on 28 January 2026, OFSI outlined how sanctions enablers are increasingly attempting to exploit cryptoassets to move and conceal illicit funds, and how UK authorities are responding through coordinated, intelligence-led action. Centra

A Delhi-based businessman has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison by a US court for conspiring to illegally export controlled aviation components from Oregon to Russia, underscoring the continued convergence of export controls, sanctions enforcement and national security priorities. Sanjay Kaushik, 58, was sentenced in Portland, Oregon on 16 January 2026, alongside 36 months of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy under the Export Control Reform A

It has been twelve months since I last wrote about Phi , the 58.5-metre superyacht detained under the UK's Russia sanctions regime. In that time, nothing has changed. She remains where she has been since 2022, moored in the same spot at Canary Wharf, her bright blue hull fading under the weather and her once-impeccable finish showing signs of neglect. Each morning I see her from our apartment window, an unmissable silhouette against the water. What was once a temporary act of

The latest announcement from the Justice Department marks a significant escalation in US efforts to dismantle North Korea’s illicit global revenue networks. With five guilty pleas secured and over 15 million dollars in virtual currency subject to civil forfeiture, the Department has underscored both the scale and sophistication of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) exploitation of remote IT work and cryptocurrency theft to finance its weapons programmes in def