Month: January 2026

Malaysia Seizes Millions in Cash and Gold in Military Procurement Probe

Corruption
Malaysia’s anti-corruption authorities said they had seized millions of dollars in cash, gold and luxury goods and frozen company bank accounts as part of a widening investigation into alleged corruption in military procurement, an inquiry that has ensnared senior armed forces figures and civilian contractors. The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission said the investigation focuses on two related cases involving suspected bribery, abuse of power and money laundering. At a news conference, Azam Baki, the agency’s chief commissioner, said 23 people — including military personnel and civilians — had been arrested so far. In the larger of the two cases, investigators seized…

UK Authorities Raid a Housing Company in Multi-Million-Pound Fraud Probe

Fraud
Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on Wednesday arrested six people and searched seven sites in an operation conducted as it announced a bribery and fraud investigation into the former management of Home REIT, a UK-listed social housing company. The suspected wrongdoing is valued at about 300 million pounds (nearly $404 million). Investigators, supported by the National Crime Agency, carried out searches at homes in Altrincham, Maidenhead and London, and a commercial site in Manchester. Italy’s Guardia di Finanza also searched a property in Venice as part of the inquiry. Home REIT, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2020,…

How Cambodia Became A Haven For Criminals

Fraud
Cambodia is a global epicenter for scam centers, home to one of the biggest synthetic drug labs ever detected, and its citizens have been involved in an array of Southeast Asia’s most infamous — and lucrative — transnational crimes. Meanwhile, “corruption and official complicity” enables “endemic” human trafficking involving tens of thousands of victims, according to the U.S. State Department. Cambodia’s government, which did not respond to questions from OCCRP, has launched a crackdown on scam factories and says it has made thousands of arrests. It also signed agreements to strengthen anti-money laundering measures last year. Even so, international observers…

Nepal Court Seeks Explanation for Dropping Money Laundering Case Against Ex-Home Minister

Money Laundering
Nepal’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to explain its decision to withdraw money laundering and organized crime charges against Rabi Lamichhane, the country’s former Home Minister. On Tuesday, a single bench of Justice Abdul Aziz Musalman issued a “show cause” order, granting the Attorney General’s Office 15 days to provide a written justification for dropping the high-profile charges. The court also directed Lamichhane to submit a response, either in person or through a legal representative. “The Attorney General’s Office has been ordered to send a response to the writ petition filed within 15 days,” Nirajan Pandey, the Supreme Court’s…

China Investigates Over 1 Million Corruption Cases in 2025

Bribery, Corruption
Chinese authorities imposed “disciplinary” measures on 983,000 people in more than one million corruption cases in 2025 alone, marking a record high for China’s top anti-corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission. In a statement released Saturday, the anti-graft body said 69 officials at the provincial and ministerial levels and above were punished for corruption last year. Authorities also investigated 115 senior officials, while 5,016 bureau-level officials were probed. Throughout the year, investigators examined 33,000 individuals for bribery, and 4,306 people were referred for prosecution. Beijing’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign in 2025 resulted in several…

South Korea Launches AML Taskforce Ahead of 2028 FATF Review

Money Laundering
The Korea Financial Intelligence Unit (Korea Financial Intelligence Unit) recently held the first meeting of a new taskforce tasked with revisiting the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information. While the meeting itself was procedural, the mandate behind it is anything but. The taskforce is meant to modernize Korea’s AML framework, sharpen responses to cross-border crime and large-scale financial fraud, and prepare the ground for South Korea’s next mutual evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force in 2028. Officials used the kickoff session to take stock. Taskforce members reviewed which parts of the existing regime no longer reflect…

Norway Charges PetroNor Subsidiary, Two Citizens Over Alleged Congo Oil Bribes

Bribery
Norwegian prosecutors have charged two individuals and a subsidiary of Oslo-listed PetroNor E&P with paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to people close or related to Congo’s president to secure oil licenses, according to an indictment shared with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) on Wednesday. The indictment, issued by Norway’s economic crime authority Økokrim, describes the case as “grand corruption,” alleging that senior political figures were targeted with bribes of exceptionally high value in connection with oil operations in the Republic of Congo from 2016 onward. The two Norwegians charged, Knut Søvold and Gerhard Ludvigsen, were senior…

German Prosecutors Raid Deutsche Bank in Money Laundering Probe

Money Laundering
German prosecutors searched Deutsche Bank offices in Frankfurt and Berlin as part of a probe into suspected money laundering linked to past transactions, adding to a series of high-profile investigations involving the lender. Banner: Boris Roessler/dpa/dpa Picture-Alliance via AFPRelated Articles Saudi Arabia Arrests 127 in Ongoing Anti-Corruption Campaign Design Firm That Donated £200,000 to Reform UK Owed £218,000 in TaxAuthorities threatened to close down Interior Architecture Landscape due to unpaid taxes. The design firm still managed to make a major donation to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party. The firm said the donations complied with U.K. electoral law. Montenegro Shaken as…

How crypto criminals stole $700 million from people – often using age-old tricks

Cyber Crime, Fraud
There’s something uniquely agonising about having your cryptocurrency stolen. All transactions are recorded on a digital ledger, known as a blockchain, so even if someone takes your money and puts it in their own crypto wallet, it is still visible online. “You can see your money there on the public blockchain, but there’s nothing you can do to get it back,” says Helen, who lost around $315,000 (£250,000) to thieves. She likens it to watching a burglar pile up your prized possessions on the other side of an impassable chasm. For seven years Helen and her husband Richard (not his…

Guernsey court seizes £8.5 million of Cryptoqueen’s assets under German confiscation order

Asset Seizure
Guernsey’s Royal Court has seized more than £8.5 million from a shell company bank account associated with the infamous missing ‘Cryptoqueen’ Dr Ruja Ignatova. The 45-year-old founded the digital currency OneCoin, but is believed to have used it as cover to help defraud victims out of more than $4 billion globally – making her one of the world’s most prolific alleged scammers. Dr Ignatova is on the FBI’s most wanted list, with a reward of up to $5 million offered for information leading to her arrest and conviction. Now, some of her assets have been seized by Guernsey authorities after…

Solicitors Regulatory Authority: 62 Percent of Law Firms Only Partially Compliant or Non-Compliant with Money Laundering Regulations

Regulation
The United Kingdom Money Laundering Regulations, enacted in 2017, established a wide range of specific legal obligations on United Kingdom businesses of all types to guard against those businesses being used as conduits for money laundering and terrorist financing (MLTF). Those obligations include: Customer due diligence (CDD) measures (ie, ‘taking steps to identify your customers and checking they are who they say they are’), including CDD in establishing a new business relationship (eg, obtaining information on the source and origin of funds that the customer will be using in the relationship).Updating risk assessments on customers if their circumstances change.Establishing and…

UK law firms get ready for crackdown on money laundering

Money Laundering, Supervision
UK law firms are bracing themselves for a money-laundering crackdown as ministers race to improve the City’s reputation ahead of a fresh financial crime review. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been designated as the new anti-money laundering watchdog for the legal sector, in a move that experts warn could result in “sharper” penalties and ultimately reshape the industry. The decision to consolidate regulation, which at present is spread across nine separate supervisors, is part of the government’s wider efforts to combat the UK’s reputation as a hub for “dirty money”. The National Crime Agency estimates that £100bn is being…

Moving to a single list for UK sanctions designations, 28 January 2026

Sanctions
IntroductionThe UK government’s sanctions lists changed to a single list on Wednesday 28 January 2026. UK sanctions designations are now only detailed in the UK Sanctions List (UKSL), published by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The Consolidated List of Asset Freeze Targets, which was published for HM Treasury by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) is no longer being updated. It is available for reference purposes on its old page. This guidance is to help you understand manage the change, in particular for businesses and industry that regularly use the UK Sanctions List and the OFSI Consolidated List…

Digital wallet fraud: how your bank card can be stolen without it leaving your wallet

Fraud
You get a call from your bank and the informed voice asks to you to confirm the personal details they have on file, which you do. You are then asked whether you bought something at an electrical retailer recently for £120 and spent £235 in Birmingham, but neither transaction rings true. The caller tells you they have blocked the payments but they must now secure your account, and say they will send you a notification to approve, or a code to pass on to them. You feel under pressure to protect your money, so you do what is asked. Unfortunately,…