Hi,
There is a certain delay - a few minutes - after a sanction is placed, after which all players initially uninvolved - so everyone minus the one that initiated the sanction - can see the new sanction. Your friend should have seen the sanction after this initial delay, just like everyone else.
BUT, as a small security measure against multiple accounts, there is another additional delay for the initiator of the sanction and any multiple accounts of his detected by the game. In this time period, there might be enough time for other players to claim the sanction.
Still, if it happens again, please contact us and we'll look into it, thanks.