In what is seen as a positive move in support of Canada’s anti-terrorism laws and extradition law for terrorism and money laundering charges, the Supreme Court of Canada today refused an appeal by Suresh Sriskandarajah from the Ontario Court of Appeal upholding an order for his extradition to the United States to face charges of [...]
The New York Court of Appeals ruled this week that the use of a New York bank account by a listed entity (an entity identified as a terrorist one) is sufficient to establish jurisdiction for American victims of the listed entity’s terrorist activities to claim compensation. The bank in question is a Beirut bank with [...]
Omar Khadr, the Canadian convicted terrorist held at Guantanamo Bay, was returned to Canada early this morning. In Canada, he was immediately incarcerated at Millhaven Institution, a maximum-security prison near Ottawa, Ontario. Last year, Khadr pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism, murder, attempted murder and several other charges and was sentenced to 40 [...]
The U.S. Permanent Senate Subcommittee on Investigations has found that HSBC Holdings PLC allowed drug traffickers, terrorists and rogue states to launder billions of dollars in the U.S. as a result of poor anti-money laundering (“AML”) and counter terrorist financing (“CTF”) controls. The Subcommittee found that HSBC serviced high-risk clients in drug-trafficking countries with weak AML [...]
The U.S. Attorney has filed a money laundering complaint commencing an in rem forfeiture action against the Lebanese Canadian Bank and others, seeking penalties of US$446 million in connection with what it says was a money laundering scheme operated by the Bank. The action is one of the first trade-based money laundering cases. As part of the alleged [...]
Two Somali women, who became US naturalized citizens, were convicted today in federal court in Minnesota of terrorist financing for providing material support to al-Shabaab, a listed terrorist entity in both the US and Canada. The two women collected funds from Somali foreign nationals in Canada and the US during a three year period and [...]
The Canadian government has applied for leave to appeal a decision staying the extradition of Abdullah Khadr to the Supreme Court of Canada. In May of this year, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a lower court decision staying Khadr’s extradition. The Canadian government is arguing that it’s ability to comply with international obligations could [...]
The Vatican today announced that it is implementing anti-money laundering laws to make its financial dealings more transparent and bring it into line with international standards on anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing. The announcement comes after an Italian court froze €23 million in transactions from the Vatican while the Italian authorities investigate whether anti-money laundering [...]
The Ontario Court of Appeal has upheld an order extraditing Suresh Sriskandarajah, also known as “Waterloo Suresh”, to the U.S. to face allegations of terrorist financing and money laundering. Sriskandarajah is a Sri Lankan former refugee who immigrated to Canada twenty years ago. He was arrested in 2006 as a result of a joint FBI [...]
The U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is proposing a new rule that would require non-bank residential mortgage lenders (e.g. independent mortgage loan companies and mortgage brokers) in the U.S. to comply with the suspicious activity reporting requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act. The new rule closes a regulatory gap in the reporting requirements. Residential mortgage [...]