The United States has sanctioned one former and several present government officials in Belarus who have been accused of undermining democratic processes and institutions. They allegedly violated internal electoral standards, and are guilty of human rights abuses and political repression. The EU had already imposed travel bans and asset freezes on these individuals, who now have been labeled by OFAC as Specially Designated Nationals, or SDNs.

The wounding of Robert Blake, US Ambassador to Sri Lanka by mortar rounds fired by the LTTE Tamil Tiger terrorist organisation may cause America to intensify its existing programme to deny the separatist group, designated as terrorist by 32 nations, access to weapons and financing. The Italian Ambassador, Pio Mariani, and the German Ambassador, Juergen Weerth, were hospitalised due to wounds suffered in the same incident, which occurred during a goodwill visit to Batticaloa by six senior diplomats and their staff via government helicopter transport.

An unidentified American described as a business consultant, and alleged by the police as having laundered $500m through local financial institutions, is being held by police in Dubai, reportedly as part of a criminal organisation composed of Europeans, Americans and Asians but no local UAE citizens. Authorities have reported that the organisation laundered vast sums, using corrupt financial institution staff, who were paid illicit commissions for their roles in moving the funds.

Criminals who engage in human smuggling into the United States are now using domestic commercial banks to funnel the payments they require into Arizona, which has resulted in a major seizure effort by the Arizona Attorney General's Office. Immigration groups are seeking to terminate the practice, which targets the estimated $300-400m believed to be transferred annually to smugglers, or "coyotes" to Arizona by US-based relatives of those who seek illegal entry into the country. Is your bank enabling human smuggling by failing to identify and report these suspicious payments?

A former Major General in the Indonesian Marine Corps, who was charged with money laundering and conspiring to deliver advanced weapons systems to a designated terrorist organisation, the Tamil Tigers, has pled guilty in US District Court in Maryland. He could receive a maximum of 20 years on the money laundering charges, and up to 15 years on the Conspiracy counts.

Since the deadline has now passed for compliance with no response from Iran, rumours abound that the UN will add more Persian companies and individuals to its sanctions list. MLROs and compliance officers at EU international banks whose clients are presently doing business with Iranian entities might want to check their ability to implement additional sanctions in a timely manner, particularly where the clients are in the midst of Letter of Credit transactions or international funds transfers, pursuant to ongoing contractual relationships, with companies in industries likely to be candidates for blacklisting. You may also want to ensure that you are not negligently dealing with already sanctioned entities on an indirect basis. And let's not forget Iranian banks you work with.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today issued OCC Alert 2007-9, warning of fraudulent e-mails messages purporting to originate from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and containing what could be a dangerous download. Please circulate this immediately to your IT department and to senior management for further distribution.

Two Florida residents are facing federal felony charges after it was discovered that they created ficticious churches to fraudulently obtain religious-travel licenses from OFAC to allow 4500 people to fly illegally to Cuba from the United States. The defendants, David Margolis and Victor Vazquez, charged individuals who wanted to visit Cuba, but had no legal reason to obtain a license, the sum of $250 per person, pursuant to their illicit scheme. Each prospective traveler, who obtained a permit after paying the fee through a travel agency in Miami, misrepresented that he or she were engaging in full-time religious activities during the visit, which constitute a lawful reason to travel to an OFAC-sanctioned nation.

The United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation has filed a report on the status of the 16 non-self governing territories that it classifies as colonial possessions. Whilst academics researching the history of European colonisation may find it illuminating, money launderers engaged in their daily quest for new targets of opportunity will certainly look at it as a potential guide for future illicit operations. Their quest may have been made even more urgent by the publication, in two pending bills in the United States Senate*, of slightly different lists of countries declared by the US government to be Tax Havens and jurisdictions where tax evasion occurs.

Trusted sources opposed to the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have reported that high-ranking government officials responsible for the movement of billions of dollars of Venezuelan government reserves from US banks to Swiss financial institutions have collected illicit "commissions" from a number of the receiving banks, It has been alleged that some of the massive funds transfers, believed to be now located in as many as 40 Swiss banks, including 4 major banks, were solicited by certain unidentified bankers and encouraged by the payment of fees, paid personally to the corrupt Venezuelan PEPs, of 1 to 2% of the value of the deposits. These illegal fees, which could be in the millions of dollars for the large transfers, and which are obviously the proceeds of crime, are then deposited in financial institutions outside Venezuela. Are there money laundering issues here? Take your pick.