Jacob Kopnick

The EU General Court last week annulled three European Council decisions sanctioning Vladimir Rashevsky, former CEO and director of mineral fertilizer giant EuroChem. The court didn't consider the most recent listing decision imposing sanctions on Rashevsky.

The Council of the European Union on July 15 sanctioned five people and three entities under its Global Human Rights sanctions regime for "serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank," the council announced.

The Council of the European Union this week renewed until July 27, 2025, its sanctions on Iranian parties for supporting Russia's war in Ukraine. The restrictions apply to 12 people and nine entities, and were imposed on parties that supply unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles to the Russian military.

The EU General Court in a pair of decisions July 10 annuled the sanctions listings for two former Democratic Republic of Congo officials -- Evariste Boshab, former deputy prime minister and minister of the interior and security, and Alex Mupompa, former governor of Kasai Central and member of parliament, according to an unofficial translation.

Gerald Moody, former assistant chief for the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Unit of DOJ's Fraud Section, has joined Akin as a partner in the white collar defense and government investigations practice, the firm announced. Moody worked at DOJ for over eight years, starting as a federal prosecutor in the FCPA unit in 2016 and serving as assistant chief beginning in January 2021.

Nikolay Goltsev of Montreal and Brooklyn, New York, resident Salimdzhon Nasriddinov pleaded guilty July 9 to conspiracy to commit export control violations. The two men shipped electronic components to sanctioned Russian companies, some of which were then found in "seized Russian weapons platforms and signals intelligence equipment in Ukraine," according to DOJ.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on July 5 rejected an order by the Federal Maritime Commission that said ocean carrier Evergreen Shipping Agency (America) Corp.'s detention charges collected from trucking company TCW were "unjust and unreasonable." FMC failed to meaningfully respond to Evergreen's arguments, the court said, and the responses the commission did offer were "implausible" (Evergreen Shipping Agency (America) Corp. v. Federal Maritime Commission, D.C. Cir. # 23-1052).

The World Trade Organization released its latest Trade Monitoring Update July 8, showing that WTO members have introduced more trade-facilitating measures than trade-restricting ones on goods from mid-October to mid-May. The update also shows a "rapid increase in industrial policy subsidies," especially in areas related to climate change and national security, the WTO said.

DOJ reached a settlement in a civil forfeiture case against a Los Angeles mansion belonging to a former Armenian government official's family. The mansion will be forfeited to the U.S., which will then sell the property, retaining 85% of the proceeds. The remaining funds will be sent to the sons of the former official, Gagik Khachatryan, and a corporation that the sons own. The forfeiture is part of the resolution of a foreign corruption scheme prosecuted by DOJ.

The U.K. on July 3 issued a general license authorizing certain transactions between sanctioned parties and the National Settlement Depository. The license allows certain designated parties -- except for those subject to Russia-related sanctions -- to "carry out any activity reasonably necessary to sell, divest or transfer" debt and equity securities and financial instruments held by the National Settlement Depository. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation said any party conducting a transaction under the license must keep records on those transactions for a minimum of six years. The license runs through Aug. 13.