The US Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network expects that senior political figures connected to the regime of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega could react to the threat of unrest and US sanctions by moving the proceeds of corruption out of their accounts in Nicaragua or elsewhere.

The left-wing Ortega regime has been cultivating close ties with Iran - always a red rag to the American bull. Israeli reports of a Hezbollah training camp in the central American country have only antagonised the US Government further. In July the Americans slapped sanctions on three Nicaraguans in connection with violence and corruption. More action might be on the cards.

FinCEN wants (but does not compel) financial institutions to send suspicious activity reports to the Internal Revenue Service's database in Detroit when they identify any potential misuse of Nicaraguan public funds or potential proceeds of political corruption associated with senior political figures connected to the Ortega regime. In its so-called “Advisory on Human Rights Abuses Enabled by Corrupt Senior Foreign Political Figures and Their Financial Facilitators” in June, it proffered case studies and examples of 'red flags' that might illustrate the ways in which corrupt 'politically exposed persons' (PEPs) and their facilitators access the US financial system, which might apply here as well.