On June 23, 2021, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal agreed with the report of a court-appointed director that a transaction, whereby the former husband of the daughter of the former Angolan President, in 2006 whereby Angola’s state oil company, Sonangol, bought shares in Galp, the Portuguese energy company, was “null and void” because it was an act of corruption.[1]

On June 23, 2021, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal agreed with the report of a court-appointed director that a transaction, whereby the former husband of the daughter of the former Angolan President, in 2006 whereby Angola’s state oil company, Sonangol, bought shares in Galp, the Portuguese energy company, was “null and void” because it was an act of corruption.[1]

On June 22, 2021, the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union hosted the EU-U.S. Ministerial Meeting on Justice and Home Affairs in Lisbon and made progress on counter-terrorism, violent extremism, and Passenger Name Record (PNR) data exchange.  They also discussed developing bilateral and multilateral instruments to combat cybercrime, using artificial intelligence,  and developing well-managed and humane migration policies.

On June 25, 2021, the United States Department of Justice announced that G4S Secure Solutions NV (G4S), a Belgian security firm, has agreed to plead guilty for its role in a conspiracy to rig bids, allocate customers, and fix prices for defense-related services.  The agreement constitutes the first international resolution obtained by the Procurement Collusion Strike Force (PCSF).[1]

On June 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Austrian authorities on June 19 arrested Sezgin Baran Korkmaz at the request of the DOJ.  His arrest followed the return by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City, Utah, on April 28 of a superseding indictment, which was unsealed on June 21.  The superseding indictment charges Korkmaz with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of obstruction of an official proceeding.[1]

In 2018, the economic and political stability of South Africa was upended when the Gupta brothers – Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh Gupta – and government officials were caught conspiring together.[1] The Gupta brothers, Indian-born South African businessmen, owned a tectonic empire across South Africa and wielded a great degree of political power.[2] After a government official testified against the Guptas, it was revealed that they allegedly had been involved in a longstanding scheme with members of the South African government, including President Jacob Zuma, to siphon millions of dollars from state-owned firms and the national treasury.[3] President Zuma was forced to resign and the Gupta brothers fled to Dubai, leaving their enterprises in South Africa bankrupt.[4] This scandal “offers a case study in a new, systematic form of graft known as ‘state capture.’ [. . .] It demonstrates how an entire country can fall to foreign influences without a single shot being fired”.[5]

In a most recent arrest, the National Police in Huila have detained a Vietnamese national for suspected trafficking.^[1] The individual was caught having paid an Angolan national 50,000 kwanzas to transport him and around 20 kilograms of illegal ivory.^[2] This and other arrests in recent months, point to the larger trafficking problem between Angola, along with other countries in Africa, and Vietnam.

On June 16, 2021, Magistrate Judge Sean P. Elynn of the United States District Court in the Middle District of Florida denied an extradition request from the Norwegian government for Kendrick Taylor Wallace, a U.S. citizen who was convicted of criminal offenses in Norway for bribery schemes due to the lapse of the statute of limitations in the U.S.-Norway extradition treaty.[1]

On June 8, 2021, the Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals affirmed the conviction of Ratko Mladić for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.

On June 3, 2021, in a 3-2 split decision, New Zealand’s Supreme Court found Kyung Yup Kim, a Korean-born permanent resident of New Zealand, could be extradited to China if China gives New Zealand sufficient assurance about his obtaining a fair trial.[1]