Category: Fraud

talian authorities arrested 12 people and seized more than 9.6 million euros ($10.9 million) in assets as part of a sweeping investigation into an alleged fraud scheme targeting European Union agricultural subsidies, officials said Wednesday. At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Naples, the Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) in Caserta carried out the arrests under an order from a judge at the Court of Salerno. The case centers on a suspected criminal network that allegedly defrauded the EU of more than 12.5 million euros ($14.2 million) in agricultural funds between 2018 and 2022. Prosecutors say…

The FCA has secured confiscation orders of £305,284 against Raheel Mirza, Cameron Vickers and Opeyemi Solaja for their roles in an investment fraud. This amounts to all their remaining assets. The confiscation proceedings for Reuben Akpojaro have been adjourned to a later date. The money will be returned to investors at the earliest opportunity. Failure to pay can lead to imprisonment. Between June 2016 and January 2020, the defendants cold called people to convince them to invest in a shell company. They then claimed to trade their client’s money in binary options (a type of fixed odds financial betting) when…

An organised criminal group (OCG) operating globally has defrauded more than 100 victims of over EUR 3 million through a fake online investment platform. Cooperation between German, Cypriot, Albanian, British and Israeli investigators, supported by Eurojust and Europol, led to the dismantling of the criminal group and the arrest of a suspect in Cyprus.Using the method of cyber trading, the group was able to make considerable profits and defraud victims of their substantial savings. The criminals created a fake online trading platform that promised large profits in a short period of time. After initially transferring modest sums of money to…

Fraud costing U.S. government hundreds of billions a year as crime rings use stolen identities It’s the most popular f-word in Washington: fraud. And DOGE — the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency — has been tearing through federal agencies on the hunt for it. But is DOGE looking in the right places? The fraud we’ll tell you about tonight is complex, pervasive and being carried out by transnational criminal organizations often using stolen identities to target U.S. taxpayers – costing the government hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Linda Miller: To be honest, Elon Musk coming out and…

Managing Director David Geale reflects on what we have seen since implementation of the world leading reimbursement requirements to protect users. Our new authorised push payment (APP) scams reimbursement requirement went live on 7 October 2024. It gave stronger protections to victims of APP scams in a way no other country had done before. We’re now just over seven months in and we’re looking back at how payment service providers (PSPs) implemented the policy, and the impact it’s had on people so far. As with any new policy, implementation can be challenging as firms train staff and roll out the…

Wine fraudster Cédric Flaction once drove showy cars including two Aston Martins, two Ferraris, two Porsches, an Audi and a BMW. The Swiss winemaker, however, has become better known for being the first vigneron in the Valais, Switzerland’s biggest wine region, to be convicted of wine fraud and forgery. On September 2, 2024, a court in Sion sentenced Flaction to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment, and ordered him to pay 1.94 million Swiss francs ($2.34 million) in compensation costs. Flaction is alleged to have bought 750,000 liters of Spanish bulk wine and 105,000 liters of Pinot Noir from Schaffhausen – a less-prestigious…

Indian authorities have arrested Subodh Kumar Goel, the former Chairman and Managing Director of UCO Bank, in connection with major money laundering and bank fraud worth some $726 million. The case concerns loans he allegedly approved to Concast Steel & Power Ltd. (CSPL) during his tenure. Investigators say the funds were diverted through shell companies and front entities by the borrowers and in exchange, Goel allegedly received large illegal payments. According to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Goel was paid in cash, real estate, luxury items, and hotel stays. These benefits were routed through family members and dummy companies to hide…

A Cypriot parliamentary committee is scheduled to discuss a company owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, which shut down after being hit by $18.5-million in taxes related to a fraudulent superyacht-rental scheme. Citing a January investigation by OCCRP and its Cypriot member center, CIReN, Parliamentarian Alexandra Attalides wrote a letter asking the Committee on Ethics to look into whether the tax bill was paid. “In the event that this has not happened,” she asked the parliamentary committee to seek information on “what actions the competent authority took before the dissolution of the company, in order to ensure the repayment of…

German authorities have convicted three men in a massive tax fraud scheme involving internet-based phone services, in a case that European prosecutors say cost taxpayers an estimated 100 million euros ($113.9 million). The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) said Monday that its office in Munich helped secure the convictions, which mark a significant breakthrough in one of Europe’s most complex cases of so-called VAT carousel fraud. The scheme was run by a criminal group code-named “Cuba” and centered around Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)—technology that allows people to make phone calls over the internet instead of traditional telephone networks. Investigators…

Transnational organized crime in Southeast Asia has reached unprecedented levels, driven by a surge in large-scale cyber scam operations run by complex criminal networks, according to a new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The report describes the rise of “sophisticated transnational syndicates” that have built vast cybercrime centers powered by interconnected networks of money launderers, human traffickers, data brokers and other illicit service providers. These actors have helped turn Asian criminal syndicates into global leaders in cyber fraud, underground banking and money laundering, the UNODC said. Their success is credited to their ability to…

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…

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…

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…

(Luxembourg, 10 February 2025) – A suspected ringleader of a €100 million subsidy fraud was arrested last week, following an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bucharest (Romania) into a criminal organisation believed to have mafia ties. According to the investigation, the suspect, an Italian citizen, operated a criminal group dedicated to systematic fraud involving EU funding. He was detained on Tuesday, 4 February 2025, in Bucharest “Henri Coanda” International Airport while trying to flee Romania, and placed in pre-trial detention by the Bucharest Tribunal, on EPPO’s request. Two other suspected members of the criminal organisation were…

(Luxembourg, 7 February 2025) – In a VAT fraud probe led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Cologne (Germany), tax and police investigators have carried out six searches, and have seized 40 luxury cars worth around €1.2 million, real estate and €40 000 in cash yesterday. One person was arrested. The investigation, codenamed ´Dutch Windmill`, was initiated in September 2024, based on findings of an ongoing investigation into the sales of used vehicles by the EPPO office in Rotterdam (Netherlands). The total fraudulent turnover of the group behind the scheme is estimated at over €30 million, and the…

The average financial loss per scam is £103 but the hidden emotional cost is far greater, with parents reporting young people became anxious and couldn’t stop worrying (69%), and nearly a quarter (24%) stopping doing the things they enjoy online.8-in-10 (81%) parents say their children faced long-lasting impacts like anxiety, depression and mood swings after being scammed online.4-in-10 young people say their biggest fear when going online is scammers stealing their personal information, identity or money, but 60% admit they’re not sure where to turn to for help.A fifth of the nation’s teachers have experienced their pupils being scammed online,…

Welfare fraudsters who cheated the taxpayer out of £7 billion last year could be banned from driving if they repeatedly fail to reimburse the public and repay their debt.  Welfare fraudsters who cheated the taxpayer out of £7 billion last year could be banned from driving if they repeatedly fail to reimburse the public and repay their debt. As part of new legislation set to be introduced in Parliament today to deliver the biggest fraud crackdown in a generation, benefit cheats could be disqualified from driving for periods of up to two years if they refuse all opportunities to repay…

All Scottish councils must learn from the weaknesses that allowed an Aberdeen City Council employee’s £1.1 million fraud go undetected over 17 years. Between 2006 and 2023, the employee transferred 655 council tax refund payments totalling £1.109m into his own bank account. Another staff member acted swiftly and alerted senior colleagues when they became suspicious in September 2023. The council expects to be able to recover the lost funds, with no loss to the taxpayers whose accounts were affected. But the Accounts Commission is concerned that whilst the council had a system of controls in place, these were not adhered…

Today we’ve published guidance that will provide organisations with important advice on the new corporate criminal offence of ‘failure to prevent fraud’, helping make sure they are taking action to prevent fraud. Introduced last year as part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCT), the offence is intended to hold large organisations to account if they profit from fraud. Under the offence, which has cross-Parliament support, large organisations may be held criminally liable where an employee, agent, subsidiary, or other “associated person”, commits a fraud intending to benefit the organisation. Examples may include dishonest sales practices, the hiding…

A popular English championship golf course is set to be sold after becoming embroiled in a high-profile fraud scandal. Mill Ride Golf Club in Berkshire was one of a number of assets forfeited by the wife of a jailed banker following a six-year National Crime Agency (NCA) investigation into fraudulent acquisitions. Zamira Hajiyeva was forced to give up the Berkshire course – as well as a £14million Knightsbridge House – after the NCA concluded it was obtained as a “direct result of large-scale fraud and embezzlement, false accounting and money laundering.” Her husband Jahangir is the former chairman of the…

A new report launched today has found that Asian crime syndicates have integrated new service-based business models and technologies including malware, generative artificial intelligence (AI), and deepfakes into their operations while establishing new underground markets and cryptocurrency solutions for their money laundering needs.The report, titled Transnational Organized Crime and the Convergence of Cyber-Enabled Fraud, Underground Banking, and Technological Innovation: A Shifting Threat Landscape, is the second in a series of ongoing threat analyses produced by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).“Organized crime groups are converging and exploiting vulnerabilities, and the evolving situation is rapidly outpacing governments’ capacity to…

At the start of the 24/25 academic year, the Students Loans Company (SLC) is reminding students to be vigilant of smishing scams. Scammers target students at this time of year as they receive their first maintenance loan payment. SLC is expecting to pay £2bn to students over the autumn term and last year it stopped £2.9m of maintenance loan payments being taken by smishing and phishing scams, where students received and acted on false communications. Smishing, which is fraud involving text messages, is currently the most popular form of scam, with students usually being asked to click a link to…

A father and son have been jailed for a total of five years after pocketing £136,000 in an elaborate scheme of purchasing reconditioned steam irons and returning them with forged receipts to Argos.Paul Mathews, 62, and Dean Mathews, 40, both of Queens Road, Wisbech, purchased heavily discounted Tefal steam irons, worth £400, and then returned them to Argos.Paul Mathews and Dean Mathews both pled guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering and were sentenced to three years and two years, respectively, at Norwich Crown Court on 13 August 2024.The steam irons that were purchased by Paul and Dean…