Month: October 2025

KYB vendor Kyckr sacked senior leaders who identified technical issues causing 72% failure rate

Money Laundering
Kyckr, a British and Australian Know Your Business (KYB) vendor, sacked its chief executive officer and chief technology officer after they identified technical issues with its UBO Verify product that caused a 72% failure rate. These caused inaccurate results that could “give rise to regulatory breach, refund exposure, and reputational risk”, according to an unfair dismissal claim filed with the Fair Work Commission in Australia.Chief executive Kathleen Phelan and chief technology officer Rebecca Glover, who identified and investigated these issues, were dismissed in June. Glover filed the unfair dismissal claim in the Federal Court of Australia on September 22. Kyckr,…

Follow the money: Rethinking geographical risk assessment in money laundering

Money Laundering
The new EU Money Laundering Regulation (EU 2024/1624) explicitly defines financial secrecy as a geographical risk factor that obliged entities must take into account when applying their customer due diligence obligations to customers from third countries in the future. According to the regulation, financial secrecy arises, for example, when countries hinder the exchange of information, do not maintain registers of beneficial owners or have strict banking secrecy. These factors overlap with the indicators of the Financial Secrecy Index, thus opening up the possibility of assessing geographical risks in money laundering prevention in a more evidence-based and less politically biased manner.…

Financial crime oversight in corporate finance firms shows gaps, says FCA

Regulation
Corporate finance firms help businesses raise money by connecting them with investors or lenders and are vital to the growth and success of the UK economy – making effective financial crime controls essential. 11% of responding firms reported having no documented business-wide risk assessment, which is a requirement under the Money Laundering Regulations. Without a business-wide risk assessment, firms are leaving themselves and the wider market vulnerable to money laundering, fraud and other forms of financial crime. Other findings from the survey that highlighted areas for improvement included: 10% of firms stated they did not retain documented evidence of customer…

Six organised criminal gangsters convicted for large scale money laundering inside DVD cases

Money Laundering, Prosecutions
Six members of an organised criminal gang (OCG) have been convicted for playing key roles in smuggling as much as £430, 925 in cash hidden inside DVDs cases on their way to Dubai.Atif Hussain, 33, Usman Mahmood, 38, and Shafiq Zahid, 47, were convicted today of being part of the money laundering arrangement.On a previous occasion, Asad Saddique, 34, Haroon Iqbal, 38, and Tallat Hussain, 34, pleaded guilty to the same offence.This criminal activity was investigated by the National Crime Agency. The Crown Prosecution Service made the decision to prosecute.The cash was exported to Dubai in airfreight consignments through Birmingham,…

Crypto donations: how to tackle the new dark money threat

Digital Currencies
The first-ever crypto donation to a UK political party has now been made, according to recent media reports. We don’t yet know the source or value of the donation. But it seems probable that Reform UK is the beneficiary as it is one of only two UK political parties, alongside the largely unheard of ‘The Other Party’ to have opened a crypto wallet. Speaking to The Observer this weekend, our executive director, Dr Susan Hawley, called this “a watershed moment in political financing” as MPs and policymakers now decide what should be done to mitigate the unique risks that crypto…

OFSI Annual Review 2024 to 2025: Effective Sanctions

Sanctions
FSI Annual Review 2024 to 2025: Effective Sanctions The review includes information on: ComplianceCapabilityEnforcementAnnual Frozen Asset Review 2024Frozen Asset In-Year Reporting, February 2022 to August 2025 Article Credit: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ofsi-annual-review-2024-25-effective-sanctions

Emerging money laundering and terrorist financing risks from October 2025

Money Laundering
Licence Condition 12.1.1(3) of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), requires operators to keep up-to-date with emerging risks information published by the Gambling Commission. This emerging risks publication is a trigger for operators to review their money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessments and related policies, procedures and controls to ensure that they remain appropriate and effective. Pre-paid payment methods Risk information The emerging risks bulletins published in April 2020 and February 2022, highlighted the money laundering and terrorist financing (MLTF) risks associated with pre-paid cards. The Commission’s 2023 MLTF risk assessment also classified pre-paid cards as high-risk…

Jail for man who laundered over £5million in cash

Money Laundering
A man has been put behind bars after being involved in laundering over £5.3million in cash.Gurmeet Handa, from Little Aston, has been jailed after a complex joint investigation led officers to uncovering a sophisticated international money laundering operation orchestrated by Handa.Gurmeet Singh Handa.jpgGurmeet HandaThe investigation began in 2016 following the seizure of £30,000 in cash in Alum Rock, Birmingham, which kickstarted an incredibly detailed money laundering investigation.As a result, officers from the Regional Economic Crime Unit alongside teams from West Midlands Regional Organised Crime Unit and HMRC all joined forces and uncovered over £5.3million had been laundered in cash between…

Government’s decision on reforming anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision

FCA, Money Laundering, Regulation
Responding to the Government’s decisionLink is external on reforming anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing supervision, Steve Smart, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said: ‘We recognise the benefits of an improved regime for anti-money laundering supervision. These changes will simplify the supervision of professional services, ensure more consistent oversight and help us identify and disrupt crime. ‘The FCA will work closely with the Government, the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS), Professional Body Supervisors, HMRC, the firms we will be supervising and others, as we work together to equip the UK to better…

Six people sentenced for part in a £20 million fraud against the taxpayer

Fraud, Prosecutions
Six people have been sentenced for playing a role in a complex £20 million fraud against UK taxpayers.Kashaf Bashier, 43, William Lindfield, 63, Vishal Chudsama, 42, Adeel Karamat Malik, 45, Beverley Thompson, 60, and Sarah Jane Peploe, 54, have been sentenced to 23 months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months; seven years and six months imprisonment; three years and six months imprisonment; 23 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months, 15 days Rehabilitation, 150 hours unpaid work; wo years imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, 10 days Rehabilitation, 100 hours unpaid work; and 21 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, 12 days Rehabilitation,…

ESMA’s Sanctions Snapshot Shows Stable Enforcement but Rising Fines Across Europe

Sanctions
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released its second consolidated report on sanctions and measures imposed across the EU’s financial markets in 2024, and while the pace of enforcement held steady, the price of wrongdoing climbed steeply. Across 29 European Economic Area (EEA) countries, regulators issued 975 administrative sanctions and measures, almost identical to 2023’s 976. But the value of those fines jumped from €71 million to more than €100 million, suggesting national authorities are turning to larger penalties to drive compliance rather than expanding enforcement volume. Once again, the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and the Markets in…

Algeria Jails Ex-Minister for $45M Social Security Fund Theft

Financial Crime
An Algerian court sentenced former Labor Minister Tijani Hassan Haddam to seven years in prison for embezzling roughly $45 million during his time as director of the National Social Security Fund from 2015 to 2019, local media reported. Haddam was also fined 1 million dinars ($7,719) and ordered to pay 2 million dinars ($15,433) in compensation to the public treasury, while he and other defendants must jointly repay the fund 100 million dinars ($771,687) in damages. The case centers on a controversial property purchase in Algiers, which Haddam claimed was for the social security fund. The real estate developer involved…

Canada’s Financial Watchdog Fines Crypto Firm Cryptomus $127 Million for AML Failures

Digital Currencies, Money Laundering, Prosecutions
Canada’s financial intelligence watchdog has handed down its largest-ever penalty, fining Xeltox Enterprises, the company behind the crypto platform Cryptomus, $127 million (C$176,960,190) for repeated violations of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws. The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) said the British Columbia–based firm was fined following a compliance examination that uncovered widespread failures to comply with the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and its associated regulations. Between July 1 and July 31, 2024, FINTRAC found that Cryptomus failed to submit 1,068 suspicious transaction reports despite having reasonable grounds to suspect links…

Ukraine Sends $7M Customs Fraud Case to Court

Fraud
Ukrainian anti-corruption prosecutors have sent to court a large-scale criminal case against officials of the Chernivtsi Customs Office accused of running a “grey import” scheme that cost the state nearly 290 million hryvnias (about $7 million). The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAP) said they completed the investigation into what they described as a criminal organization embedded in the customs authority. Investigators allege the group manipulated import duties through fraudulent declarations, allowing high-value goods to enter Ukraine at artificially low rates. The organization allegedly included both current and former customs officers, among them…

EBA Finds Significant Progress in EU Banks’ Anti-Money Laundering & Counter-Terrorism Financing Supervision

Financial Crime
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has reported substantial improvements in how EU and EEA Member States supervise banks for money laundering and terrorist financing risks, marking the conclusion of a six-year review project. In a report published on 8 October 2025, the EBA said that competent authorities have made “significant progress” in adopting risk-based approaches to anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) supervision, even as many grappled with resource constraints and reform challenges. Between 2018 and 2024, the EBA carried out in-depth reviews of 40 national competent authorities (NCAs), examining their strategies, supervisory practices, and use of…

China Urges UK to Immediately Remove Chinese Companies from Sanctions List

Sanctions
China has called on the United Kingdom to immediately drop the newly imposed sanctions against 11 Chinese entities accused of supporting Russia’s energy sector, state news agency CGTN reported Thursday. Beijing protested the designations, stating that the unilateral sanctions “have no basis in international law [and] undermine the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the U.K. said. The appeal comes after London announced on Wednesday what it described as its “strongest” sanctions package to date against Russia, directly targeting oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil. The package also targets individuals and entities allegedly…

Spanish court orders ex-UN official extradited to US in bribery case

Bribery, Prosecutions
MADRID (Reuters) -Spain’s High Court has ordered that former senior U.N. official Vitaly Vanshelboim be extradited to the United States where he is accused of taking bribes and money laundering, according to a court document seen by Reuters on Tuesday. Vanshelboim, a Ukrainian national, served in high-ranking roles within the U.N. Office for Project Services (UNOPS) until he was placed on administrative leave in 2021 and subsequently dismissed in 2023. He was arrested in Spain in March on an international warrant issued by the Southern District Court of New York. Vanshelboim is accused of accepting at least $2 million in…

Azerbaijan’s Former Presidential Chief of Staff Placed Under House Arrest

Bribery, Corruption
A former chief of staff to the Azerbaijani president has been placed under house arrest on charges of treason, attempting to overthrow the state by force, and money laundering, according to reports circulating in pro-government media outlets. On Tuesday, a Baku court ordered four months of home detention for Ramiz Mehdiyev, 87, citing his advanced age, Qafqazinfo reported. The charges carry a maximum sentence of life imprisonment under Azerbaijan’s criminal code. In a brief phone interview published by Qafqazinfo, Mehdiyev ended the call when asked about the charges. Often dubbed the “grey cardinal” by local media, Mehdiyev wielded considerable influence…