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Regulatory Watch News

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  Florida Man Sentenced for Biofuel Fraud Conspiracy

  US Department of Justice

  March 13, 2025

  The General Manager of a company that produces and sells renewable fuel and fuel credits was sentenced today to serve 37 months in prison to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release for his role in a scheme that generated over $7 million in fraudulent Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) renewable fuels credits and sought over $6 million in fraudulent tax credits connected to the purported production of biodiesel.  

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  Treasury Sanctions Iranian Oil Minister, Shadow Fleet Operators

  OFAC

  March 13, 2025

  WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating Iran’s Minister of Petroleum, Mohsen Paknejad, who oversees the export of tens of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian oil and has allocated billions of dollars’ worth of oil to Iran’s armed forces for export. OFAC is also designating several entities in multiple jurisdictions, including the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and India, for their ownership or operation of vessels that have delivered Iranian oil to the PRC, or lifted Iranian oil from storage in Dalian, PRC. Today’s sanctions apply further pressure on the “shadow fleet” and other vessels upon which Iran depends to deliver its oil to the PRC, advancing United States’ commitment to reduce Iran’s oil exports to zero.

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  CPS authorises charges against NCA officer

  The Crown Prosecution Service

  March 13, 2025

  Malcolm McHaffie, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime Division, said: “We have authorised Merseyside Police to charge National Crime Agency officer Paul Chowles with 15 offences relating to the alleged theft of 50 Bitcoin, worth nearly £60,000 in 2017, during an investigation into online organised crime. “Mr Chowles, 42, is due to be charged with 11 offences of concealing, disguising, or converting criminal property, three offences of acquiring, using or possessing converting criminal property and a single count of theft.