Month: March 2025

Operation Henhouse: 433 arrests and £7.5m seized in national crackdown on fraud

Fraud
433 people have been arrested in a UK-wide campaign against fraud, coordinated by the National Economic Crime Centre and City of London Police. The activity, which was the fourth iteration of the multi-agency Operation Henhouse, ran across February 2025 and resulted in: 433 arrests156 voluntary interviews471 cease and desist noticesaccount freezing orders against £4mseizures of cash and assets worth £7.5m Fraud is the most prevalent crime in the UK, causing victims long-lasting emotional and psychological harm as well as financial loss. It accounts for approximately 41% of all crime reports, and costs an estimated £6.8bn each year in England and…

UK, France, & Switzerland Join Forces in New Anti-Corruption Taskforce Amid U.S. FCPA Pause

Bribery, Corruption
Key Takeaways New Anti-Corruption Taskforce: The UK’s Serious Fraud Office, France’s Parquet National Financier, and Switzerland’s Office of the Attorney General have formed a taskforce to strengthen collaboration and tackle international bribery and corruption. Timely Announcement: The taskforce was announced amid the U.S. decision to pause FCPA enforcement for 180 days, creating potential shifts in global anti-corruption efforts and enforcement priorities.Cross-Border Cooperation: The three agencies will work together more closely, leveraging their expertise and jurisdiction to target cross-border corruption and financial crime.Commitment to Combating Crime: Officials from the UK, France, and Switzerland emphasized the importance of international partnerships in tackling…

Proposed Law Would Attract Dirty Money to Northern Cyprus, Experts Warn

Money Laundering
A draft law allowing offshore funds to be brought into northern Cyprus with little oversight could turn the breakaway territory into a money laundering hub, experts warn. The draft law was discussed on Tuesday by the assembly that governs the territory, which is recognized as a state only by Turkey. The proposed legislation — which would charge 3 percent interest on imported funds until the end of 2025 — still needs to be voted on by the Turkish Cypriot assembly. But the proposal has already raised concerns. “Once the 3 percent tax is paid and the money is deposited in…

Arms Dealer Dadak Indicted in New York for Fraud

Fraud
French-Polish arms dealer Pierre Konrad Dadak, previously exposed for fraudulent arms schemes, has been indicted in the U.S. for allegedly running a luxury goods scam and extortion scheme, using stolen identities to fund his lavish lifestyle. Pierre Konrad Dadak, 48, was indicted by a grand jury in New York’s Southern District for an alleged scheme in 2021 and 2022 that saw him impersonate an unnamed luxury goods retailer, tricking customers to send him money into a bank account that he opened using a stolen identity. He allegedly spent the proceeds on himself, including a diamond-encrusted watch and a vintage 1960s-era…

Now Live – Updates to the Land Conversion and Financial Crime Risk Assessment

Counter Terrorist Financing
Cattle-laundering, conflict, and terrorist financing in the Lake Chad Basin Recent reports have found that cattle rustling – the forceful theft of livestock for illicit commercial gain – has become increasingly prevalent in the Lake Chad Basin in Africa, linking the cattle industry with conflict and terrorist financing. Between 2015 and 2024, the incidences of cattle rustling by Boko Haram at the borders of Cameroon and Chad have increased nearly 800%, from two incidences reported in 2015 to 158 in 2024. These incidences have also been accompanied by increased fatalities, with 20 deaths linked to cattle rustling in 2024. According…

Ukrainians Linked to $13M International Crypto Fraud Scheme

Digital Currencies, Fraud
Ukrainian law enforcement, working with international agencies, have uncovered a scheme in which suspects convinced people to invest in a fake cryptocurrency mining project, officials said Wednesday. Three Ukrainian nationals allegedly helped orchestrate the scheme, which defrauded victims of about $13 million in the United States, Latvia, Israel, Malta, Spain, and other countries, according to Ukraine’s National Police. Since early 2021, the suspects had advertised cryptocurrency “cloud mining” services, mainly targeting European internet users. Victims were persuaded to pay to rent computing power from third-party companies, which were supposedly generating virtual assets to be paid out as dividends. The group…

‘Several people’ arrested in EU bribery investigation linked to Huawei

Bribery
Several people have been arrested and homes searched as part of an investigation into alleged bribery and corruption at the European parliament relating to the Chinese technology giant Huawei, Belgian prosecutors have said. The investigating judge in charge of the case has asked for seals to be fixed to the offices of two European parliament assistants alleged to be involved. “The alleged bribery is said to have benefited Huawei,” Belgium’s federal prosecutor said in a statement on Thursday afternoon, after an earlier statement that did not mention the company. The first statement said that several individuals had been arrested for…

No action against ex-Tory worker in £1m VAT scam

Fraud, Money Laundering
A former Conservative party branch treasurer involved in a £1m VAT fraud and money laundering scheme will have no further action taken against him. Malcolm Macaskill – who has a brain tumour and was unfit to stand trial – filed bogus forms to HMRC which grossly overstated the sales from his sandwich businesses to reclaim more than £800,000. He also laundered £200,000 through his local Conservative parties in Glasgow and Rutherglen, Lanarkshire where he was treasurer as well as deputy chairman. Further money was then funnelled through the bank accounts of his current and ex-wives. Because of Macaskill’s illness, an…

UK Art Businesses Fined for Money Laundering Compliance Failures

Art Dealers, Art Market, Money Laundering
Nearly 50 UK art businesses have landed on a newly published list of Art Market Participants (AMPs) that failed to comply with money laundering regulations, according to a disclosure by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) last week. The fines were first reported by the Art Newspaper. Galleries such as Opera and Carl Kostyál made the HMRC list, as did a fundraising initiative led by White Cube. The penalties, issued between January 1 and September 30, 2024, average over £3,000 and peak at £13,000. All stemmed from failure to register by the June 2021 deadline. One gallerist, speaking anonymously to the…

Penalty issued against subsidiary of major law firm for breaches of sanctions linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Regulatory Fines, Sanctions
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) has imposed a monetary penalty against Herbert Smith Freehills CIS LLP (“HSF Moscow”) for breaches of UK financial sanctions imposed on Russia, linked to its illegal invasion of Ukraine. HSF Moscow was the subsidiary office to the UK registered Herbert Smith Freehills LLP (“HSF London”) until its closure by HSF London on 31 May 2022 as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The monetary penalty relates to six payments made by HSF Moscow with a collective value of £3,932,392.10 to designated persons subject to an asset freeze. The designated…

2025 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report

Money Laundering
he 2025 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) is an annual report by the Department of State to Congress prepared in accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act. It describes the efforts of key countries to attack all aspects of the international drug trade in Calendar Year 2024. Volume I covers drug and chemical control activities. Volume II covers money laundering and financial crimes. Article Credit: https://www.state.gov/2025-international-narcotics-control-strategy-report

Combatting insurance fraud together

Fraud
As the newly appointed head of the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), I am eager to continue our strong partnership with the ABI and its members. By working together, we will advance our strategic priorities of enforcement, disruption, protection and prevention. IFED tackles all forms of insurance fraud, including motor, commercial and public liability. We tackle threats such as illegal insurance intermediaries, also known as ghost brokers. We are committed to bringing organised criminal groups and opportunistic fraudsters to justice. Achieving these goals relies on strong collaboration and partnership with the insurance industry. IFED serves as…

Seized golf course and home up for sale for £19.5m

Asset Seizure, Fraud
A Berkshire golf club and Knightsbridge house forfeited by a jailed banker’s wife have been put up for sale for a total of £19.5m. Zamira Hajiyeva agreed to give up Mill Ride Golf Club in Ascot and the home, which is on the market for £14.75m, external, after a six-year National Crime Agency (NCA) fraud investigation. It resulted in the UK’s first unexplained wealth order and a trustee was appointed by the High Court to sell the assets in the autumn. Online adverts for them went live last month. Mrs Hajiyeva’s husband, Jahangir, was the chairman of the state-controlled International…

The EBA consults on new rules related to the anti- money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism package

Law, Regulation & Guidance
The European Banking Authority (EBA) launched today a public consultation on four draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) that will be part of the EBA’s response to the European Commission’s Call for Advice. These technical standards will be central to the EU’s new AML/CFT regime and will shape how institutions and supervisors will comply with their AML/CFT obligations under the new AML/CFT package. The consultation runs until 6 June 2025. The proposed RTSs focus on the following aspects for which the EBA is providing its advice: the way the new EU Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism…

FCA bans former Credit Suisse executives following US criminal convictions

Bribery, Corruption, Money Laundering
The FCA has banned Andrew Pearse and Surjan Singh from the UK financial services industry. The former Credit Suisse managing directors have been banned for lacking integrity, following US convictions for arranging corrupt loans to the Republic of Mozambique. In July 2019, Mr Pearse pleaded guilty in the US for his role in the conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud, which included him accepting over US$45m in unlawful kickbacks in connection with the loans. In September 2019, Mr Singh also pleaded guilty in the US for his role in the conspiracy to commit money laundering, which included him…

Former Art Advisor Lisa Schiff Sentenced To 30 Months In Prison For Defrauding Clients

Art Dealers, Art Market, Fraud
Matthew Podolsky, the Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that LISA SCHIFF, a Manhattan-based art advisor focused on contemporary art, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison by U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken for perpetrating a multi-year scheme in which she defrauded the clients of her art advisory business of approximately $6.5 million in connection with the purchase and sale of approximately fifty-five artworks. Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said: “For five years, Lisa Schiff breached the trust of her art advisory clients by diverting millions of dollars to pay her…

HSBC and the Salameh affair: alarm bells ignored for a decade

Corruption
Facing prosecution in a dozen countries including Switzerland, Riad Salameh is suspected, in collaboration with his brother Raja, of having defrauded the Central Bank of Lebanon (BDL), which he headed from 1993 until 2023, of hundreds of millions of dollars. In Geneva, allegedly illegal funds amounting to almost 330 million dollars have been identified in accounts at HSBC Private Bank (Switzerland). Public Eye has obtained unpublished court documents showing that, for more than a decade, the bank chose to ignore all the warnings issued by its own compliance department. This case clearly highlights the flaws in the Swiss anti-money-laundering system.The…

Switzerland fines former Credit Suisse executive over Mozambique case

Regulatory Fines
ZURICH (Reuters) – Switzerland’s finance ministry has fined Lara Warner, former compliance chief of collapsed lender Credit Suisse, 100,000 Swiss francs ($114,000), according to a Swiss government order seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The bank executive failed to notify Switzerland’s anti-money laundering authorities of a suspicious 2016 transaction for 7.9 million francs handled by Credit Suisse and involving the finance ministry of Mozambique. The case related to the $1.5 billion-plus “tuna bond” scandal that triggered a default crisis in Mozambique, the order said. Warner, who worked at Credit Suisse between 2015 and 2021, is challenging the fine and assumed the…