This month’s top stories:
- Amazon under investigation in Italy for alleged tax evasion worth EUR 1.2 billion;
- Argentina’s president Javier Milei investigated for cryptocurrency fraud for promoting cryptocurrency $LIBRA, which collapsed soon afterwards; and
- US seeks support of Indian authorities to serve complaint to businessman Gautam Adani in USD 265 million bribery case.
Europe
France: Investigators open money laundering probe against cryptocurrency exchange Binance
On 28 January, the economic and financial crime section of the Paris public prosecutor’s office (JUNALCO) opened a judicial investigation into allegations of money laundering against Binance, the cryptocurrency exchange. Binance is suspected of having conducted insufficient KYC on its customers between 2019 and 2024, as a result of which it may have facilitated the laundering of proceeds of drug trafficking and tax fraud. Binance is also accused of having advertised in France via social media before it had received the required regulatory approval. The French authorities had opened a preliminary investigation into Binance in 2022. The investigation involves offences allegedly committed in France and other countries in the European Union. Binance has denied all allegations and intends to challenge all charges.
[Written by Esperança Pereira]
Italy: Amazon under investigation by Milan prosecutors for alleged tax evasion worth EUR 1.2 billion
On 14 February, Italian media reported that Amazon and three of its top managers were being investigated by the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office for alleged tax fraud. The case reportedly concerns the sale of goods from non-EU countries to Italy between 2019 and 2021, after Italy had passed a law in 2019 that makes tech companies liable for tax evasion by third-party sellers. However, similar EU rules only took effect in 2021. Italy’s financial police estimated that during this period, Amazon transactions involved tax evasion worth EUR 1.2 billion. In total, penalties relating to this investigation may accrue to up to EUR 3 billion. Amazon had denied wrongdoing, arguing that it cannot verify global sellers’ tax compliance, and that no other European country has raised similar issues. The investigation could challenge Amazon's business model in the region.
[Written by Anna Tonioli]
UK: Competition regulator fines four banks a total of over GBP 100 million over competition law breaches
On 21 February, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), the UK’s competition regulator, fined HSBC, Citibank, Morgan Stanley, and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) a total of over GBP 100 million after discovering that traders at the banks had used Bloomberg chatrooms from 2009 to 2013 to discuss sensitive information about UK government bonds (gilts). Citibank’s fine was reduced by over 50 percent after it agreed to a settlement during the investigation. A fifth bank, Deutsche Bank, was exempt from the fines after it reported its wrongdoing to the CMA. The CMA stated that all five banks have since “implemented extensive compliance measures to ensure this behaviour does not happen again”.
[Written by Esperança Pereira]
Czechia: EU prosecutors and Czech law enforcement uncover large-scale fraud scheme in the healthcare sector
On 24 February, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) and Czech law enforcement agencies arrested 22 individuals and carried out 46 search and seizures in an investigation into alleged corruption in public contracts for construction projects at Prague's Motol University Hospital, Czechia’s largest hospital. According to the EPPO, the reported corruption scheme affected the implementation of projects which had received approximately EUR 160 million in funding from the EU. At least 16 individuals, including Miloslav Ludvík, the hospital director and a former Czech health minister (2016-2017), were charged with corruption, subsidiary fraud, and money laundering for allegedly soliciting and paying bribes in exchange for public contracts. Ludvík was dismissed from his role as the hospital director on 24 February after the investigation became public. If confirmed, charges may lead to sentences of up to 12 years in prison. No public statements from the defendants in the case were identified.
[Written by Daniel Lima]
Americas
US: Trump Administration limits federal bribery and securities investigations
On 10 February, President Donald Trump issued an executive order imposing a 180-day pause on investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1997, the federal anti-bribery statute that prohibits US individuals and companies from paying foreign government officials to facilitate business transactions. Trump criticised the FCPA as a form of wasteful government overreach that hurts US businesses and competitiveness overseas by banning engagement in “routine practices in other countries.” The Trump Administration issued this executive order only one week after new leadership at the US Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly told the enforcement staff that any new investigations would require prior approval from the regulatory body’s politically appointed commissioners.
[Written by Sam Kane]
Argentina: President Javier Milei investigated for cryptocurrency fraud
On 20 February, Argentina’s Office of the Federal Prosecutor opened a criminal fraud investigation into President Javier Milei after he promoted the new cryptocurrency $LIBRA, which collapsed soon afterwards. In a post on X on 14 February, Milei stated that $LIBRA would support Argentina’s small and medium enterprises and the country’s broader economic growth. $LIBRA’s value quintupled before investors withdrew over USD 100 million, resulting in a value crash within hours of Milei’s post. Over 100 investors who lost money on $LIBRA filed criminal complaints against Milei, accusing him of using his prominence to inflate $LIBRA’s value before its creators – who have known ties to Milei – and others close to them could cash out. Milei deleted the X post, saying he was unaware of the project’s details and claiming that cryptocurrencies are notoriously volatile. Milei has denied the allegations of fraud.
[Written by Sam Kane]
Brazil: Former President Bolsonaro charged with leading attempted coup and political assassination plot
On 18 February, Brazilian federal prosecutors indicted former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023) and 33 others for plotting a violent coup to prevent then-president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva from assuming power following the country's 2022 presidential elections. According to prosecutors, Bolsonaro was aware of the group’s alleged plans to assassinate Lula, as well as Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes. Prosecutors further alleged that Bolsonaro drafted a presidential decree to extend his term in office and dismiss the election’s results, and that the criminal group engaged in clandestine counterintelligence operations, including the dissemination of misinformation targeting political adversaries. Current and former members of Brazil’s Special Forces Command were also accused of exerting undue influence on other military commanders to support Bolsonaro in a coup. Bolsonaro has denied all accusations against him. If convicted, he could face over 38 years in prison.
[Written by Sam Kane]
Former Soviet Union
Kyrgyzstan: Government signals resistance to Russian pressure to facilitate sanctions evasion
On 3 February, the Kyrgyz government signalled that it would resist Russian pressure to give Russian businesses in Kyrgyzstan preferential treatment. Regional outlets have interpreted this as a reference to companies in Kyrgyzstan being used to circumvent international sanctions against Russia. On 31 January, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin had called on the Kyrgyz government to stop “unfairly targeting” Russian businesses in the country, which has been interpreted as a request to help Russia evade sanctions. Kyrgyzstan has been accused of enabling Russian sanctions evasion, for example by acting as a supply channel of sanctioned goods including vehicles. On 15 January, the US sanctioned Keremet Bank, a Kyrgyz bank accused of having helped a sanctioned Russian bank evade sanctions.
[Written by Nick Sergeef]
Russia: Journalistic investigation uncovers Western shipowners’ contribution to growth of shadow fleet
On 4 February, the OCCRP published a new journalistic investigation into how Western shipowners are fuelling the growth of Russia’s so-called ‘shadow fleet’, a network of around 600 ships helping to evade sanctions by exporting Russian oil. According to the OCCRP, shipowners in the EU and US are selling their ageing tankers to third parties outside the international sanctions regime, which go on to export Russian oil. Whilst EU sanctions prevent shipowners from selling their ships directly to Russian companies, they are legally allowed to sell vessels to entities in countries that are not participating in sanctions. Western shipowners are believed to have earned over USD 6.3 billion selling aging tankers that have become part of the shadow fleet.
[Written by James Whittingham]
Georgia: Sanctioned billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili moves assets back to Georgia
On 14 February, the OCCRP reported that Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s richest man and founder and chair of the Georgian Dream party, had transferred ownership of seven companies from his Panamanian holding company back to Georgia. Ivanishvili’s transfer of assets from offshore structures to newly-registered companies in Georgia began on 31 December 2024 – four days after he was sanctioned by the US – and has continued into the first months of 2025. This has been enabled by controversial changes to Georgia’s tax code which were pushed through Georgia’s parliament in 2024 by Georgian Dream. Georgian Dream returned to power last October after claiming victory in a heavily contested election which engendered a wave of protests across the country and calls domestically and abroad to annul the results of the election.
[Written by Matthew Crane]
Russia: New EU and UK sanctions against Russia mark the third anniversary of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February, the EU and UK imposed new sanctions against Russia as they marked the third anniversary of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The new EU sanctions, described as the block’s most extensive measures to-date, target key sectors of the Russian economy, including energy, trade, transport, and finance, and extend restrictions to Belarus. The EU has also introduced a range of new restrictions on storage of Russian hydrocarbons and an import ban on Russian aluminium to be phased in over the next year. The UK has introduced more than 100 new measures targeting Russia’s military-industrial complex, with a particular focus on suppliers of dual-use goods based in a range of third countries including Turkey, India, and China. The EU and UK also increased the number of vessels classified as part of Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ of tankers, with the EU adding 79 vessels and the UK adding 40 new vessels.
[Written by Tom King]
Asia Pacific
India: US seeks support of Indian authorities to serve Gautam Adani in USD 265 million bribery case
On 18 February, the US Securities and Exchange Commission sought the support of the Indian authorities to serve its complaint on Indian businessman Gautam Adani and his nephew Sagar Adani, whom the SEC suspect of engaging in securities fraud and a USD 265 million bribery scheme. US authorities indicted Gautam Adani in November 2024 for allegedly bribing Indian officials between 2020 and 2024 to buy electricity at above market rates from Adani Green Energy, an Indian renewable energy company in his Adani Group of companies. The SEC also accuses Adani Green Energy of providing misleading information about its anti-corruption policies in order to raise USD 2 billion from US and foreign investors. Gautam Adani and Adani Green Energy have denied the allegations.
[Written by Penelope Jenkins]
Sub-saharan Africa
Africa: The African Development Bank launches action plan to combat financial crime
On 25 February, the African Development Bank (AfDB) launched a three-year action plan to tackle corruption and financial crime across Africa. This initiative seeks to enhance African countries' capacity to combat money laundering and illicit financial flows, which have surged from USD 50 billion annually in 2015 to USD 90 billion in 2020. The plan involves creating a framework and fostering collaboration between the bank, its regional member countries, and development partners to identify and combat illicit financial flows. This announcement comes after the AfDB signed a letter of intent with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) on 20 February, aiming to bolster cooperation between the agency and the AfDB in combatting corruption and financial crime throughout the continent.
[Written by James Marriner]
Rwanda / DRC: US places financial sanctions on Rwandan minister for ties to DRC-based militant group
On 20 February, the US Department of the Treasury imposed financial sanctions on James Kabarebe, the Rwandan minister for regional integration since 2023. This comes after the M23, a Congolese Tutsi-led rebel military group designated as a non-state armed group by the US and UN, seized territorial control in the eastern DRC in January 2025. The sanctions against Kabarebe were imposed in response to his role in coordinating Rwandan military support for the M23 and his management of mineral shipments from mining sites which have been seized by the M23 in the DRC. The US has reported its intent to hold Rwandan officials to account for supporting destabilising militant activities and related human right abuses, and has called on regional governments to negotiate ceasefires to avoid a war in the region. The Rwandan government has condemned the sanctions against Kabarebe and denied supporting the M23. The ongoing instability and security concerns in the region threaten global battery and clean energy supply chains, as the eastern DRC holds a significant portion of the world’s critical minerals deposits.
[Written by Elsona van Rooyen]
Middle East and North Africa
UAE: Head of AML and CTF Committee plans to enhance collaboration with EU member states in fight against financial crime
On 15 February, the UAE’s official state news agency announced that Hamid Al Zaabi, the director general of the UAE’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Committee, was planning high-level discussions with European Union member states to enhance collaboration in the fight against money laundering and other forms of financial crime. Al Zaabi stated that this latest effort follows engagements with the US and France to enhance the country’s strategies to combat financial crime, including drug-related and fraud cases.
[Written by Zahra Gray]
Syria: EU suspends a number of restrictions on Syria
On 24 February, the Council of the European Union announced its decision to suspend some restrictive measures on Syria following the ousting of Bashar al-Assad by insurgent forces in December 2024. The Council’s key decisions include lifting sectoral restrictions on oil, gas, electricity, and transport, the easing of banking restrictions on four Syrian financial institutions and Syrian Arab Airlines, making funds available to the Syrian Central bank, the indefinite extension of an existing humanitarian exemption, and allowing limited luxury goods exports for personal use. These suspensions have been introduced with immediate effect. The move aims to support Syria’s political transition, economic recovery, and reconstruction. The Council also stated that it will continue to closely monitor the situation in Syria to ensure that such suspensions remain appropriate.
[Written by Zahra Gray]
