Hello, and welcome to episode 73 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast, I’m Chris Kirkbride. It’s been a quiet week this week on the financial crime front. The bulk of this week’s news comes from sanctions and bribery and corruption. Of course, I’ll also round up this week’s cyber-attack news.

As usual, I have linked the main stories flagged in the podcast in the description. These are:

Government of Canada, Canada announces sanctions against officials of justice and security sectors.

International Monetary Fund, Côte d'Ivoire: Report on Observance of Standards and Codes—FATF Recommendations for Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism.

National Crime Agency, Ex-Nigerian politician charged in corruption case.

National Cyber Security Centre, Cyber Incident Response.

Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Financial Sanctions Notice: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, General Licence: Continuation of Business and Basic Needs for Telecommunications Services and News Media Services (INT/2022/1875276).

Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, General Licence: GTLK Companies and their Subsidiaries – Insolvency related payments and activities (INT/2023/3263556).

Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Guidance: Financial sanctions webinars and events.

Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury Designates Roman Semenov, Co-Founder of Sanctioned Virtual Currency Mixer Tornado Cash.

Ofgem, Ofgem fines Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc (MSIP) over £5.4m for failure to record and retain electronic trading communications.

Serious Fraud Office, ENRC Ltd.

Serious Fraud Office, Rio Tinto Group.

Transparency International, Legitimate Interest 2.0: Enabling Journalists and Activists to Follow the Money in the European Union.

UK Finance, How Payments Play a Critical Role in Reducing Fraud for Merchants.

UK Finance, London Criminal Gang Sentenced for £130,000 Scam.

US Department of Justice, Justice Department Announces Results of Nationwide COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Action (press release).

US Department of Justice, Justice Department Announces Results of Nationwide COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Action (video).

US Department of Justice, Houston oil trader charged in international bribery scheme.

US State Department, Imposing Sanctions and Visa Restrictions on Individuals and Entities Russia to Promote Accountability for Forced Transfer and Deportation of Children During Russia’s Illegal War Against Ukraine.

US State Department, U.S. Sanctions Individuals Contributing to the Recent Escalation of Conflict in the DRC.