Moneylaundering.com: Weekly Roundup: U.N. Chief Condemns Iran Missile Tests, House Approves FinCEN Budget Boost, and More

A recent series of Iranian ballistic missile tests aren’t “consistent” with the spirit of the country’s nuclear agreement with the United States, Russia and other nations, but only the U.N. Security Council can determine whether the launches violated the intergovernmental group’s arms embargo, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a confidential report seen by Reuters. More

North Korean officials said the U.S. government’s decision to blacklist Kim Jong Un for human rights abuses represents a “declaration of war,” though Western analysts characterized the restrictions as being mostly symbolic, Bloomberg reported. More

The U.K.’s National Crime Agency said that law enforcement and industry are struggling to keep pace with the growing sophistication of cybercriminals, some of whom now use phony call centers and pay translators to perpetrate fraud schemes, according to the BBC. More

The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee approved a measure that would codify into law the IRS’s voluntary 2014 decision to refrain from seizing personal assets under federal anti-structuring laws without first tying such funds to a crime. More

The House of Representatives passed a fiscal year 2017 budget bill with an amendment by Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) that would increase funding for the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) by more than $3 million over the roughly $113 million the bureau is slated to receive for the current fiscal year. More

The appropriation bill also incorporates measures introduced by Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL) that would prohibit the U.S. Treasury Department from authorizing American aircraft manufacturers to sell commercial planes to Iran and ban financial institutions from financing the deals. More

U.S. officials disclosed in May that regulatory reports filed by Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and others helped authorities seize millions of dollars held in the United States by a Chinese businessman accused of selling missile parts to Iran, The Wall Street Journal said. Such reports have also informed military strikes on oil refineries controlled by Islamic State fighters. More

Las Vegas Sands shareholder William A. Sokolowski is suing casino Chairman Sheldon Adelson and others to recoup losses for “operating the company in an illegal manner” leading to Bank Secrecy Act, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Sarbanes-Oxley violations, Courthouse News Service reported. More

The top aide to former Chinese President Hu Jintao was sentenced to life in prison for accepting $11 million in bribes, CNN reported. Ling Jihua, who was also convicted of stealing state secrets, is one of the most prominent figures to be convicted and sentenced as part of President Xi Jinping’s anticorruption crackdown.More

Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter will appeal his 6-year ban from soccer in August, which followed accusations that he approved an illicit $2 million payment to an adviser and failed to stem widespread corruption within the organization, the Associated Press said. More

Brazilian authorities seized documents tied to an investigation of Panama-based FPB Bank’s alleged role in offering services to transnational criminal groups that used Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca to open offshore shell companies, Reuters said. Private banking clients at FPB purportedly used the offshore firms to transfer illicit money out of Brazil, including funds tied to the Petrobras bribery scheme. More

Brazilian politician Eduardo Cunha resigned from his position as speaker of the lower house of Congress amid accusations that he accepted millions of dollars in bribes and stashed funds in secret Swiss bank accounts, BBC reported. Cunha, who has led the campaign to impeach suspended President Dilma Rousseff, denies the allegations. More

Police in Brazil issued five arrest warrants, including one for former Workers Party treasurer Paulo Ferreira, and conducted raids in three different states as part of an investigation of a massive corruption and money laundering scheme involving state-run oil firm Petrobras, Reuters reported. More

Relatives of Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen hold large stakes and prominent management and directorship positions in a number of highly profitable companies in the country’s mining, gambling and property sectors, the Financial Times said, citing a report by anticorruption watchdog Global Witness. More

Mexican lawmakers adopted anticorruption legislation that establishes an independent anticorruption prosecutor and obligates government officials to declare their assets, tax and interest payments, but under pressure from industry groups and President Enrique Peña Nieto, withdrew provisions that would’ve required all the information to be made public, The Wall Street Journal reported. More

A federal judge in Argentina froze the assets of former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner on charges that, as head of state, she ordered the country’s central bank to conduct illicit foreign exchange transactions, the BBC said. The same judge is presiding over a separate inquiry in which Fernandez, her relatives and some of her closest associates are suspected of money laundering. More

Accountants, attorneys, realtors and other nonbank businesses and professionals in South Korea will be required to report suspicious transactions and maintain transactional records starting in 2018 under new anti-money laundering rules, Korea Joongang Daily reported. More

Indian officials have compiled a list of suspected tax evaders believed to have used accountants and other intermediaries to hide and launder their funds in exchange for a commission of one to two percent, the Times of India reported. More

Swiss authorities submitted documents to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allegedly showing that jailed hedge fund manager Chetan Kapur used Mossack Fonseca to hide more than $4 million dollars in offshore accounts, Bloomberg reported. More

The International Monetary Fund’s executive board approved a 3-year, $5.3 billion standby loan for Iraq that requires the country to strengthen its laws and rules against corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing, Reuters reported. More

Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation is expected to prosecute NVPSKG, a joint venture contracted to build the Khlong Dan wastewater treatment project, for money laundering violations, the Bangkok Postreported. The country’s Anti-Money Laundering Office recommended the prosecution last week after confiscating roughly $170 million from the consortium. More

French billionaire lawmaker Serge Dassault stood trial this week on charges that he hid around €31 million in bank accounts in Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and the Virgin Islands, Luxemburger Wort reported. The charges stem from a separate investigation of Dassault’s alleged attempts to buy votes while previously serving as a mayor. More

French businessman Arnaud Mimran was sentenced to eight years in prison and fined €1million following his conviction for investing and laundering illicit profits from a carbon-tax fraud scheme that cost the French government €283 million, the Associated Press reported. More

The U.S. Transportation Department granted eight air carriers rights to provide 20 daily flights between Havana, Cuba and Atlanta, Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark and New York following moves by the Treasury and State departments to lift certain banking and trade restrictions, according to The Wall Street Journal. More