Pacific Strategies & Assessments

What a great first day at Association of Certified Sanctions Specialists's #ACSSConference2024 here in DC! Drop by to speak with Michael and Charles about due diligence, investigations, and advisory in support of your #globalsanctions and #exportcontrols programs. #TPRM #DueDiligence #Investigations #Compliance

On October 31, 2024, the Orange County District Attorney announced that Orange County official Andrew Do has pleaded guilty to bribery for conspiring in a scheme involving the misuse of COVID-19 relief funds. Do received USD 550,000 in bribes to ensure that such relief funds were channeled through the Viet America Society, a non-profit organization focused on feeding the elderly and the disabled. Some of the federal funds received by the organization were spent on real estate, and only 15% of USD 9 million was actually spent on providing meals. Do has resigned from his post and will receive his sentence on March 31, 2025.    https://lnkd.in/eusJHJ2m #California #Bribery #Corruption

On October 21, 2024, former Albanian President Ilir Meta was arrested for alleged #corruption and #moneylaundering, following an order from Albania’s Special Anti-Corruption Structure (#SPAK). SPAK stated that Meta and his ex-wife Monika Kryemadhi, an Albanian politician, along with other public figures, are suspected of several criminal offenses, including passive #bribery of a senior official, money laundering, and false declaration of assets. If proven, these charges could lead to a prison sentence of up to 12 years. Meta’s party, the Freedom Party, condemned the arrest, labeling it as politically motivated. https://lnkd.in/essFzJx5 #Albania #Investigations

Happy Diwali to our Indian clients, colleagues, friends, and family!

On October 23, 2024, a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida charged Raul Gorrin Belisario, a #Venezuelan television news network owner, with one count of conspiracy to commit #moneylaundering for his role in a USD 1.2 billion money laundering scheme. He was allegedly part of a conspiracy to #bribe high-level Venezuelan officials to obtain foreign currency exchange loan contracts with Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), a state-owned and state-controlled energy company. Gorrin and his co-conspirators used the proceeds from the contracts to purchase real estate, yachts, and other luxury items in the US, and used #shellcompanies and offshore bank accounts to conceal their tracks. https://lnkd.in/g9sHPyRe

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On October 21, 2024, former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo was sentenced to 20 years and six months in jail for #corruption and #moneylaundering. Toledo was convicted of taking USD 35 million in #bribes from the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht for a contract to build a road in southern #Peru. He was arrested in California in 2019 and extradited to Peru last year. The Brazilian company admitted paying millions of dollars in bribes to officials across Latin America and the US to secure #governmentcontracts. Toledo has denied the allegations against him. https://lnkd.in/evwNKb9D

On October 17, 2024, a US federal court imposed a 38-year jail sentence and a USD 2 million fine on Genaro García Luna, #Mexico's former public security minister from 2006 to 2012, for engaging in #bribery by accepting millions of dollars of cash from Mexican drug #cartel named #Sinaloa. In exchange, García Luna allegedly shielded Sinaloa members from arrest and protected the cartel's cocaine #trafficking operations. García Luna, the highest-ranking Mexican official to be convicted in the US, will serve his jail sentence in a US prison. https://lnkd.in/eJQ5gauC

On October 17, 2024, #INTERPOL reported that its anti-illegal #gambling operations, code-named SOGA X, resulted in over 5,100 arrests and the recovery of more than USD 59 million of illicit proceeds. According to the press release, INTERPOL collaborated with 28 countries and jurisdictions to trace illegal online football gambling in relation to the #UEFA2024 European Football Championship. The operation also uncovered #humantrafficking of 650 people in the #Philippines, as well as related financial #fraud in #Vietnam and #Thailand. https://lnkd.in/ep-F3sia

On October 11, 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission (#SEC) announced that Moog Inc., a US-based motion controls systems manufacturer, agreed to pay USD 1.7 million in penalties for violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (#FCPA). Between 2020 and 2022, employees of Moog's Indian subsidiary, Moog Motion Controls Private Limited, allegedly paid bribes to Indian officials to win business, using third-party agents and distributors to facilitate the payments. These employees also allegedly bribed Indian officials to influence public tenders in India to favor Moog's products and exclude competitors from the bidding process. Moog was found to have violated the FCPA’s recordkeeping and internal accounting controls provisions. #India #Manufacturing #TPDD #Investigations #BidRigging https://lnkd.in/ernehbH7