The Latvian Finance and Capital Markets Commission has today announced a fine of €1.3 million against Norvik Banka and of €1.56 million against Rietumu Banka in relation to transactions related to circumvention of North Korean sanctions between 2013 and 2014 and 2009 and 2015 respectively.
Both banks have cooperated with the FCMC and have undertaken as part of administrative agreements to improve their internal compliance functions.
It has been reported today that a plea deal has been reached for the final two defendants in the Italian prosecution of arms exports to Libya and Iran in breach of EU sanctions and export controls.
Mario Di Leva negotiated 3 years and 8 months of imprisonment and a fine of €8000, and for Annamaria Fontana the sentence was 3 years and 6 months and a fine of €7000.
See our earlier post for the plea deal for the first defendant.
On June 27, 2017, the Latvian Financial and Capital Market Commission entered into administrative agreements with three different Latvian Banks for failings related to breaches of North Korean sanctions. Each of the banks cooperated with the investigations.
JSC Baltikums Bank and JSC PrivatBank were each fined €35,575 for “weaknesses in customer due diligence and transaction monitoring that led to the situation that bank had been used to circumvent international sanctions requirements imposed against North Korea”.
JSC Reģionālā investiciju Banka, was fined €570,364, for the same failings, but also for “failure to ensure effective functioning of internal control system”. To remedy this, the bank was undertaken to invest €2.8 million on “the improvement of its internal control system in 2017/2018”.
In addition official warnings were issued to those at the bank responsible for AML and CTF controls. The bank also undertook to “assess its AML/CTF internal control system and take the necessary measures to improve its functioning and effectiveness in line with the action plan, to perform external testing on the categorization of customer base and IT solutions, as well as assess the risks associated with cross-border enforcement of sanctions”.
It was reported today that the French authorities have commenced an investigation into the cement company Lafarge-Holcim with regards to payments made relating to its Syrian manufacturing operations that are alleged to be payments made to designated persons under the EU’s terrorist financing and ISIS sanctions.
It is being reported in the Netherlands that the Dutch authorities are undertaking an investigation into trust companies within the BK Group for alleged breaches of the EU’s misappropriation sanctions in relation to the Ukraine.
As part of the ongoing prosecution of three Italian nationals for arms exports to Libya and Iran in breach of EU sanctions, it has been reported today that one of the defendants, Andrea Pardi, has pled guilty in return for a two-year custodial sentence.
The trial of the remaining defendants is due to start in June 2017.
The District Court of Noord-Holland has today fined a fine of €40,000 on the Dutch airline KLM for its role in the unlicensed export of goods on the EU’s military list from the South African to Ecuador via the Netherlands.
The judgment noted that subsequent investigation had revealed 74 shipments where the required reporting had not been complied with.
A District Court in the Netherlands has imposed a €50,000 fine on logistics provider for its part in the unlicensed export of military goods to Saudi Arabia.
No export licence had been applied for. The value of the contracts is stated to have been US$14 million.
The Court of Appeal in Hertogenbosch has upheld and extended the conviction and sentence imposed on an individual for breaches of the EU’s Liberian sanctions.
Amongst other offences, the defendant had supplied arms and munitions to the government of Charles Taylor in breach of sanctions.
At first instance he had been acquitted of some charges and sentenced to 8 years in jail. Both the defendant and the public prosecutor appealed.
On appeal all charges were found proven and a sentence of 19 years was imposed.
