Bipartisan Bill Could Reward Tips on Sanctions Evaders

A bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate this week could allow the U.S. to better target sanctions evasion by rewarding information leading to the arrest or conviction of evaders. The Sanctions Evasion Whistleblower Rewards Act, introduced in part by Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, would expand the State Department’s Rewards for Justice program to offer rewards for “information about the identity or location of individuals and entities that defy sanctions imposed” by the U.S. or the U.N., the lawmakers said.

Risch said the bill comes as people and entities “are finding new ways to evade sanctions around the world.” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., said the bill would specifically “incentivize the sharing of information to help apprehend dangerous Russian oligarchs.”