Regulatory Watch News

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  Telefónica Venezolana To Pay Over $85 Million To Resolve Foreign Bribery Investigation

  United States Attorney Office -Southern District of New York

  November 11, 2024

  Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Nicole M. Argentieri, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”); Kareem Carter, Executive Special Agent in Charge of the IRS-CI Washington Field Office; and, Derek W. Gordon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”) Washington, D.C., Field Office, announced today that TELEFÓNICA VENEZOLANA, C.A. (“TELEFÓNICA VENEZOLANA”), a Venezuela-based subsidiary of Telefónica, S.A. (“Telefónica”), a publicly traded global telecommunications operator based in Spain, will pay over $85.2 million to resolve an investigation by the DOJ into a scheme to bribe government officials in Venezuela to receive preferential access to U.S. dollars in a currency auction.  

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  Financial sanctions update: Sudan

  OFSI

  November 11, 2024

  2 entries added to the consolidated list

  On 11th November 2024 the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office updated the UK Sanctions List on GOV.UK enacting the UN’s decision made on 8 November 2024 to add 2 entries. This list provides details of those designated under regulations made under the Sanctions Act. The following entries have been added to the Sudan financial sanctions regime and are now subject to an asset freeze:

  • Abdel Rahman Juma Barkalla (Group ID: 16681)
  • Osman Mohamed Hamid Mohamed (Group ID: 16682)

  OFSI’s consolidated list of asset freeze targets has been updated to reflect these changes.

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  EU Anti-Fraud Conference in Athens focuses on preventing, detecting and investigating fraud in the digital age

  OLAF

  November 11, 2024

  Anti-fraud authorities from across the European Union gathered on 6 November 2024 in Athens for a two-day high-level conference aimed at fortifying EU funds against evolving threats. Organised by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) and Greece’s National Transparency Authority (NTA), the event, titled “Data-Driven Protection of the EU Budget,” highlighted the urgency of leveraging advanced digital tools and collaboration to counter increasingly sophisticated, cross-border fraud schemes.