Nicosia, Cyprus — The United States and Cyprus said Tuesday they are formalizing their cooperation in the fight against money laundering, sanctions evasion and other financial crimes with an agreement that will provide American expertise to Cypriot law enforcement authorities.
The FBI and Cypriot police will sign an agreement in the coming days providing the US Department of Justice assistance in “proactively detecting, investigating and prosecuting cases involving financial crimes” in Cyprus, a joint statement said.
Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides last year invited FBI and Justice Department officials to help investigate allegations that Cypriot financial services firms had helped Russian oligarchs evade international sanctions.
While Cyprus has insisted it has complied with international sanctions imposed on Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the US has targeted several Cypriot companies, lawyers and accountants for allegedly helping to evade the sanctions.