The Office of Foreign Assets Control, OFAC, has listed a number of individuals as Specially Designated Narcotics Trafficking Kingpins. The countries they are from are Mexico, Venezuela, Afghanistan, Italy and Turkey. Also designated were three criminal organisations, including the previously listed Foreign Terrorist Organisation and Specially Designated Global Terrorist group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The latest developments regarding high-risk transactions with Venezuelan financial institutions and corporate entities will be covered in detail in my Emerging Threats lecture, which is featured at the World-Check New York Power Breakfast, to be presented at 9:00 AM on Monday, 16 June, at the Hotel Carlyle, Madison Avenue at 76th St., in Manhattan. There is no charge for attendance.

This weeks' filing of 79 counts of money laundering against the Bank of Belize has a hidden back-story; the whereabouts of a mysterious payment of $10m from the Government of Venezuela direct to the Bank of Belize. Purportedly transmitted for the benefit of the Government of Belize, the funds transfer reportedly contained specific instructions which were not followed. Inasmuch as the Bank of Belize is the country's largest commercial bank, will this turn out to be the worst case of trans-national corruption seen this year? Read on and decide whether Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) were involved.

The Government of Grenada has announced that a decision has been made to return the country to its prior position as an offshore financial centre. The country is reporting passing new financial legislation, known as the Offshore Act Amendment Bill. Whilst we understand that the Attorney General of Grenada will have the authority to impose immediate restraints against financial fraud, no details have been made public at this time.

New York based anti-money laundering and organised crime expert, attorney Emanuel Zeltser, imprisoned upon arrival in Belarus, has now incredibly been charged with narcotics offences by a government that the US says is the last dictatorship in Europe. Zeltser was originally charged with the use of false documents when he was detained on 12 March, as he arrived for meetings with clients politically opposed to the current regime. The drug charges seem to involve diabetes medications that he carried with him; Belarusian authorities now say that they were not for such an ailment, and are therefore, illegal. Obviously, the charges are bogus. US diplomats have been protesting the arrest for several months, but the relationship between the two countries is poor, so he has not been released.

Iran's ongoing efforts to evade global international sanctions continue to focus on the purchase of a financial institution in Venezuela. Reliable Venezuelan and US sources advise that the Government of Iran is interested in buying Corp Banca C.A., of Caracas, a commercial bank. The bank is reportedly owned by its president, Venezuelan attorney and financier Victor Jose Vargas Irausquin, who is also believed to own Banco Occidental de Descuento, more commonly known as BOD.

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The principal leaders of the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation LET, have been designated by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). According to the US Treasury Department LET is linked to Osama bin Ladin and Al-Qaida. The individuals named are the overall leader, the chief of operations, the chief of finance, and the principal financier. LET was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) by the US on 26 December, 2001. It has been banned in Pakistan since 2002.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has amended its Rough Diamonds Control Regulations by adding two requirements. The importation of diamonds into the US is governed by the Clean Diamond Trade Act and the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS). Basically, businesses must file reports detailing import, export and stockpile information. Should financial institutions that bank diamond traders obtain some sort of certification from their clients that they are in compliance with this new regulation?

The news this week that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating money missing from donations to the National Republican Congressional Committee reminds us that we must consider individuals who have access to election campaign funds to be Politically Exposed Persons, or PEPs. Long-time readers will recall that I once listed as PEPs all 47 candidates for President of the Republic of Haiti, for even the most obscure of them were receiving substantial amounts of donations from supporters and vested interests. Then there is the issue of what will become of leftover campaign funds when an opponent fails to materialise after the primary, or when advertising expenditure does not use up all the contributions. Are you asking your new clients about their recent job history, and checking out their answers through independent enquiry?