FinCEN Issues Advisory Regarding Venezuelan Government

Financial Crimes FinCEN Department of Treasury Sanctions

On September 20, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an advisory to financial institutions to warn of public corruption and money laundering related to Venezuelan government agencies and bodies. The advisory lists several red flags specific to the Venezuelan government to assist financial institutions with identifying and reporting suspicious activity to FinCEN, including, among other things, payments for government contracts made to personal accounts or to companies in a different line of business, payments made from shell corporations, and certain real estate purchases by Venezuelan government officials, primarily in south Florida and Houston, Texas.

As previously reported in InfoBytes, sanctions have recently been imposed on several Venezuelan political figures. (See previous InfoBytes coverage here and here.)