A member of Syria’s ruling family forfeited more than $30 million from her United Kingdom bank account after an investigation by the U.K.’s National Crime Agency revealed the money was the result of an evasion of European Union financial sanctions, according to a May 21 press release. NCA said the money, transferred via 56 “cash deposits” across England, was “consistent with the use of an informal value transfer system which may result in the laundering of criminal cash.” The activity violated EU sanctions designed to “restrict the use and availability of Syrian regime funds,” the press release said.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on Argentina-based Goldpharma, which it called a drug trafficking and money laundering organization, and several of its members, Treasury said in a May 23 notice. In total, OFAC designated the company, eight Argentine nationals and 16 other entities under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act for operating as “significant foreign narcotics” traffickers and contributing to the “synthetic opioid crisis,” Treasury said.

The United Kingdom published its 2019 Cyber Attacks (Asset Freezing) Regulations, which will impose new European Union sanctions announced May 17. The sanctions regime, established by the EU Council, allows the EU to “impose targeted restrictive measures to deter and respond to cyber-attacks” that “constitute an external threat” to the EU, according to the announcement. The regime also allows the EU to sanction people or entities who provide “financial, technical or material” support for cyber-attacks or “who are involved in other ways.” Sanctions include travel bans and asset freezes.

Secretary of Energy Rick Perry said Congress will soon pass a bill placing sanctions on Nord Stream 2, the Russian gas pipeline to Germany, Reuters reported May 21. The bill would likely place significant restrictions on companies involved in the project. Perry said the bill will appear in the “not too distant future,” according to Reuters. “The United States Senate is going to pass a bill, the House is going to approve it, and it’s going to go to the President and he’s going to sign it, that is going to put sanctions on Nord Stream 2.”

The State Department designated 22 people, entities or their subsidiaries under the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act for trading goods that may be used for weapons of mass destruction or ballistic missile systems, the department said in a Federal Register notice to be published May 22. The additions include people and entities associated or located in China, Iran, Russia and Syria.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned five people and one entity under the Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act for Russia-related human rights violations, Treasury said in a May 16 notice. The sanctioned people include Russian government investigators and members of the Chechen Republic’s Terek Special Rapid Response Team.

The Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned 11 people and 10 entities in Mexico related to allegations of corruption, money laundering, drug trafficking and killings, Treasury said in a May 17 notice. The sanctions include the designation of a Mexican magistrate judge and former Mexican governor, Isidro Avelar Gutierrez, under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.

The European Union extended sanctions against Syria for one year, until June 1, 2020, the EU Council said in a May 17 notice. The sanctions include an oil embargo, restrictions on “certain investments," a freeze on Syrian central bank assets "held in the EU" and export restrictions on "equipment and technology" that could be used for “internal repression” and the “monitoring or interception” of internet or phone communications, the notice said. The EU Council also removed sanctions on five deceased people and two entities, one because it “ceased to exist” and another because “there were no longer grounds to keep it under restrictive measures,” the notice said. The move came about a week after the Trump administration announced it is extending U.S. sanctions against Syria (see 1905100018).

The United Nations Security Council sanctioned one entity and removed five other entities from its sanctions lists, the U.N. said May 14. The U.N. added the “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant -- Khorasan” to its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions list while removing Nessim ben Mohamed al-Cherif ben Mohamed Saleh al-Saadi from the same list, according to press releases. The U.N. also removed sanctions on four separate entities: the Directorate General of Baghdad Electricity Distribution and the Iraq-based Idrisi Centre for Engineering Consultancy (ICEC), National Centre for Engineering and Architectural Consultancy and State Enterprise for Fertilizer Industries.

The Trump administration extended for one year beyond May 16 the existing national emergency with respect to threats to U.S. national security posed by Yemen, the White House said in a May 13 press release, continuing a 2012 executive order that sanctioned Yemen political and military leaders that “threaten the peace, security, or stability” of that country. In the press release, the White House said certain former government of Yemen officials “continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. foreign policy and national security.