UBS Wins Dismissal of Credit Suisse Money-Laundering Charges
Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court ruled on April 8 that UBS Group AG cannot be held responsible for a money-laundering case tied to the Mozambique tuna-bond scandal, a matter it inherited when it acquired Credit Suisse in a government-brokered deal in 2023.
UBS stated that it welcomes the court's finding that liability of this kind cannot be transferred to a legal successor through a merger. In October 2023, UBS had separately reached a settlement with Mozambique over Credit Suisse's involvement in the affair, closing out a London case that originated roughly a decade earlier, when Credit Suisse financed the construction of a coastal patrol force and a tuna-fishing fleet for Mozambique.
Credit Suisse had previously agreed in 2021 to pay nearly $475 million to settle multiple global investigations into its conduct in the scandal. Mozambique alleged that the bank overlooked corruption among its own staff and ignored red flags in connection with $2 billion in bond transactions.
Russian crypto payment system expands into Africa
A job posting on a Russian recruitment platform recently sought a project manager to establish a business operation from the ground up in Togo, West Africa. The employer was A7, a Russian cryptocurrency network operating under Western sanctions, run by a fugitive oligarch and a state defense sector bank.
The listing points to Russia's continued effort to build an alternative payments infrastructure after its banks were cut off from Western financial systems following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A7's expansion into Africa aligns with Russia's broader push across the continent, where it has deepened political ties in the wake of several coups in the Sahel region and Madagascar. It has concluded a series of trade and military agreements.
According to Elise Thomas, a senior investigator at the London-based Centre for Information Resilience, A7 and its backers may be working to integrate their operations into the Kremlin's wider strategic agenda in Africa.
New Revelations Reignite Crypto Scandal Involving Argentina's President Milei
Argentine President Javier Milei is facing renewed scrutiny over his promotion of a cryptocurrency called $Libra, which surged in value before rapidly collapsing in 2025, leaving investors with significant losses and triggering a formal investigation.
Milei had maintained that he was merely drawing attention to a private venture and had no personal involvement with the token. However, phone records obtained by The New York Times and first reported by Argentine cable news channel C5N, drawn from a federal prosecutor's investigation, show that seven calls took place between Milei and one of the entrepreneurs behind $Libra on the same night Milei posted about the coin on X. The calls occurred both before and after his post, though their content is not known.
Additional documents suggest that Milei received regular payments from an entrepreneur during his time as a congressman. Milei is named as a person of interest in the ongoing federal investigation but has not been formally charged. He has not publicly responded to the call logs or other newly surfaced materials.
