Category: Money Laundering

Greek Court to Hear Case Against Aid Workers Allegedly Smuggling Migrants

Money Laundering
More than 20 humanitarian workers are set to stand trial in Greece on migrant-smuggling and money-laundering charges, seven years after authorities arrested them for their work rescuing migrants and refugees at sea. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison. The Mytilene Court of Appeals on the Greek island of Lesvos is expected to hear the case on December 4, bringing 24 human rights defenders before judges on felony charges of “membership of a criminal organization,” “facilitation of the entry of third-country nationals into the country” and “money laundering.” Human rights groups have unanimously denounced the accusations as…

U.S. Treasury Eyes New Power to Steer Anti-Money-Laundering Enforcement

Money Laundering, Regulation
Key TakeawaysFinCEN’s Gatekeeper Role: A Treasury draft proposal would position FinCEN as the central decision-maker on AML enforcement actions taken by other regulators.WSJ First to Report: The Wall Street Journal initially reported the proposal being circulated among federal banking regulators.Focus on Effectiveness: The plan aims to prioritize actionable intelligence over technical compliance errors that banks argue are costly and unproductive.Deregulatory Shift: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent views current AML oversight as inhibiting economic growth while failing to stop major laundering activity.Deep DiveThe Treasury Department is positioning itself to take a more commanding role in how the U.S. fights illicit finance, with…

Swiss-Based “Cryptomixer” Dismantled After Laundering €1.3 Billion in Bitcoin

Money Laundering
Eurojust and Europol said Monday that, together with German and Swiss law enforcement, they dismantled “Cryptomixer,” a cryptocurrency‑mixing service used to launder proceeds from drug and weapons trafficking, ransomware attacks, payment card fraud and other crimes. Officials said the takedown, carried out between November  24 and 28 in Switzerland, resulted in the seizure of more than 25 million euros ($29.1 million) in cryptocurrency, three servers, the service’s domain and over 12 terabytes of data. Since its creation in 2016, Cryptomixer has allegedly processed over 1.3 billion euros ($1.5 billion) in Bitcoin, helping criminals obscure the origin of illicit funds. Investigators…

AMLA Lays the Groundwork for EU-Wide AML Supervision Ahead of 2028 Shift

Money Laundering
Key TakeawaysDirect EU Supervision Begins in 2028: AMLA will take over supervision of 40 high-risk financial institutions or groups.Single Risk Lens Across the EU: National supervisors and AMLA will apply the same data points and criteria when assessing AML and CFT risks.Binding Standards Pending Approval: Once approved by the European Commission, the rules will apply directly in all Member States.Consultation Now Open: Stakeholders can comment on cooperation standards until 27 January 2026.Testing Phase Planned for 2026: AMLA will trial the methodology and selection process before supervision goes live.Deep DiveEurope’s new anti-money laundering authority is beginning to move from blueprint to…

FinCEN Turns Data Into Action as Treasury Tightens the Net on Money Laundering

Money Laundering
Key TakeawaysData at Scale: FinCEN is using advanced analytics drawn from more than one million transaction reports to drive enforcement.Border Focus: Over 100 MSBs along the southwest border are under review for potential Bank Secrecy Act failures.Global Networks in Scope: Treasury is simultaneously targeting Chinese money laundering networks linked to $7.1 billion in suspected activity.Public-Private Pressure: Banks and non-bank financial firms are being pulled closer into real-time coordination with regulators and law enforcement.Deep DiveThe U.S. Treasury is leaning harder into data, technology, and coordination as it steps up efforts to disrupt money laundering tied to organized crime and cross-border networks.…

Illicit Finance Summit to build international coalition against dirty money

Corruption, Money Laundering
Governments, civil society and the private sector to gather in London next year to accelerate fight against corruption and dirty money, as details of major summit outlined by Foreign Secretary.Foreign Secretary calls out illicit finance as the ‘lifeblood of crime’ on UK streets and promises to ‘take the fight to the corrupt’.New funding for investigative journalists exposing corruption announced as UK prepares to launch new Anti-Corruption Strategy.The UK will host a major international summit next summer to tackle the flows of dirty money around the world, which are making the UK’s streets less safe. Taking place at Lancaster House in…

Fifty jurisdictions, one goal: Eurojust unites prosecutors from around the world to fight organised crime

Money Laundering, Prosecutions
Organised crime groups are operating on a global scale and evolving at an unprecedented pace, exploiting new technologies and geopolitical instability. These once-local groups are spanning continents and currencies, well beyond EU borders. To bring down globalised criminal networks effectively, Eurojust is scaling up its cooperation with judicial authorities outside the European Union. High-level representatives, including a minister and prosecutor generals from 50 jurisdictions representing Latin America, the Western Balkans, North Africa, the Middle East and the European Union convened to design strategic and operational actions to fight the threat of criminal groups. The event included the endorsement of a…

Belgian Authorities Charge Ex-EU Justice Chief for Money Laundering

Money Laundering
Belgian authorities charged former Belgian Deputy Prime Minister—who also served as the EU Commissioner for Justice—Didier Reynders with money laundering, involving around one million euros in liquid cash found in his bank account. According to reports by Le Soir and Dutch investigative news outlet Follow The Money, Reynders was interrogated on October 16 in connection with unexplained cash deposits totaling approximately 700,000 euros ($803,098), which authorities allege he made into an ING Bank account between 2008 and 2018. His wife, Bernadette Prignon, was also reportedly questioned but has not been charged. Reynders’ lawyer, André Renette, confirmed in a statement seen…

Shortcomings in Money Laundering Prevention Lead to €45 Million Fine for J.P. Morgan

Money Laundering, Prosecutions
Germany’s financial watchdog has fined J.P. Morgan €45 million after identifying widespread failures in the bank’s processes for reporting suspicious transactions, according to a notice from the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). The Frankfurt-based institution was found to have “culpably breached” its supervisory obligations related to internal controls designed to detect and report potential money laundering. BaFin said that, between October 4, 2021, and September 30, 2022, the bank systematically failed to submit suspicious transaction reports to the German Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) without undue delay, a core requirement under Germany’s Money Laundering Act (Geldwäschegesetz). The enforcement action became final…

Turkish Prosecutors Seek Over 2,000 Years for Incarcerated Istanbul Mayor

Bribery, Fraud, Money Laundering
Turkish prosecutors accused Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has been incarcerated since March, of 143 corruption and organized crime offenses, including bribery, money laundering, and fraud against public institutions, according to the state-owned Anadolu Agency. If convicted, he could face 849 to 2,430 years in prison. Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Akin Gurlek told media that the indictment is complete and a lawsuit has been filed with the Istanbul High Criminal Court. The case names 402 suspects, including 105 individuals and İmamoğlu himself, who are already in detention. The indictment described İmamoğlu as heading a crime network likened to “the tentacles of…

Turkey Seizes Control of Crypto Company Suspected of Money Laundering

Digital Currencies, Money Laundering
The Istanbul prosecutors’ office announced on Friday that the COINO Crypto Asset Platform and 15 other companies have been seized on charges of money laundering, and 17 suspects detained. It said the cryptocurrency company was used as intermediary in the laundering of criminal proceeds “belonging to the suspects and their relatives, which were considered to have assets originating from crime [and] were seized by the decision of the Istanbul Criminal Court of Peace.” The prosecutors’ office said that the crypto movements were likely worth nearly 770 million US dollars. “The Prosecutor’s Office stated that 645 of the 802 natural persons…

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.…

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,…

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…

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…

Peru’s Ex-President Sentenced Amid Sweeping Odebrecht Scandal

Money Laundering, Prosecutions
A Peruvian court on Wednesday handed former President Alejandro Toledo a second prison sentence for money laundering and corruption in a case tied to bribes he received from Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht. Toledo, who led Peru from 2001 to 2006, was sentenced to 13 years and four months for money laundering, the judiciary said on X. It was his second conviction in connection with the sprawling scandal. His latest sentence will not be added to his existing 20-year prison term but will run concurrently at Lima’s Barbadillo Prison, where three other ex-presidents are also jailed. The court found the 79-year-old…

Bolivia: Ex-Interior Minister Arrested Following U.S. Extradition

Money Laundering, Prosecutions
Bolivian authorities arrested former Interior Minister Arturo Murillo on Thursday after his extradition from the United States, where he had been serving a prison sentence for money laundering, the Interior Ministry said. The 61-year-old was taken into custody upon arrival in Santa Cruz. Murillo faces multiple charges in Bolivia, including an eight-year sentence in a 2019 case over the irregular purchase of tear gas from Ecuador, which allegedly cost the state more than $2.3 million. He was first detained in the U.S. in 2021 on accusations of taking bribes from a Florida-based company and was sentenced there to six years in prison in 2023. Article…

Azerbaijan Jails Ex-Oil Executive for $32M Embezzlement

Fraud, Money Laundering, Prosecutions
An Azerbaijani court has sentenced a former state oil firm executive to 14 years in jail for embezzling 54 million manats ($31.76 million). The Baku Court of Grave Crimes on Monday jailed Ramin Isayev—who served from 2008 to 2020 as the general director of SOCAR AQS, a joint venture of the state oil firm that operates drilling rigs in the Caspian Sea—after finding him guilty of embezzlement, money laundering, abuse of office, and fraud. The court also ordered the confiscation of real estate and large sums of cash belonging to him and his family, according to RFE/RL’s Azerbaijani service. The…

Money Laundering and Sanctions Evasion: Select Committee on China Holds Roundtable Examining Hong Kong’s Role

Money Laundering, Sanctions
Today, House Select Committee on China held a roundtable discussion examining Hong Kong’s Role as a Safe Haven for PRC Money Laundering and Sanctions Evasion.“Hong Kong’s opaque financial system, coupled with the sheer volume of cross-border financial flows from the mainland, has made it a magnet for criminal activity. Reports have shown the city’s role in trade-based money laundering, shell companies, and fraudulent networks designed to move and obscure dirty money. Even more concerning, Hong Kong has become a staging ground for transactions that help sanctioned regimes—including North Korea, Russia, and Iran—gain access to the global financial system. This empowers…

Georgia Detains Exchange Owner in $660M Laundering Probe

Money Laundering
The Georgian Prosecutor’s Office  on Tuesday announced the arrest of a local currency exchange owner accused of laundering more than $660 million, calling it the country’s largest money-laundering scheme to date. A court ordered Kakha Kotorashvili, 49, head of the currency firm Fin, held in pre-trial detention on money-laundering charges. If convicted, he faces up to 12 years in prison. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the investigation—conducted together with the State Security Service—found that between 2022 and 2024, Kotorashvili organized an “illegal network for collecting money of unsubstantiated origin, disguising its source through conversion, and placing it into legal circulation.” While the Prosecutor’s Office did not…

High Court: Solicitor “turned blind eye” to money laundering concerns

Money Laundering
A partner at a London law firm “dishonestly assisted” in misappropriating a company’s funds by turning a blind eye to money laundering issues raised by three property transactions, the High Court has ruled. Deputy High Court Judge Saira Salimi ruled that Daniel Broughton “repeatedly failed to obtain documentary evidence of funds and their source, and to follow up on inquiries he had made”. As a result, £2.4m of funds misappropriated from the claimant, Grosvenor Property Developers Ltd, passed through Portner & Co’s client account. She continued: “The repeated explanation for these lapses is an acknowledgement that he was ‘sloppy’ or…

HSBC’s Swiss Bank Said to Exit 1,000 Mideast Clients Amid Revamp

Money Laundering
HSBC Holdings Plc’s Swiss private bank is ending relationships with wealthy Middle Eastern clients, including many with assets exceeding $100 million, as the bank seeks to lower its exposure to individuals it deems high-risk, according to people familiar with the matter.More than 1,000 clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar and Egypt are among those being told they can no longer bank with HSBC’s Swiss wealth management business, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing an ongoing process. Some clients have already started to be informed and over the next few months will receive closing letters advising them they…

JPMorgan pays $330M to settle Malaysian 1MDB fund scandal claims

Money Laundering
Banking giant JPMorgan Chase has agreed to hand over $330 million to resolve allegations it enabled the theft of billions from Malaysia’s government investment fund in a historic financial fraud case. Malaysian officials filed suit against the bank’s Swiss division in 2021, accusing it of processing $800 million in suspicious transfers from the 1MDB state fund to a bogus business partnership. Friday’s settlement announcement puts an end to all legal disputes stemming from JPMorgan’s involvement in the massive embezzlement scheme that drained over $4.5 billion from Malaysian coffers during a six-year period. Hacker uncovers ‘missing’ Tesla Autopilot data in deadly…

Fine for bunq B.V. for insufficient customer due diligence

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
ackling money laundering is a priority for the government because it is key to effectively fighting all manner of serious crime. Concealing the origin of criminal proceeds enables perpetrators to steer clear of the investigative authorities and enjoy their ill-gotten gains undisturbed. The Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Wet ter voorkoming van witwassen en terrorismefinanciering – Wwft) aims to ensure that our financial system is not abused for money laundering and terrorist financing. Under this legislation, banks act as gatekeepers and are obliged to carry out anti-money laundering controls. This means that banks must know who their customers are,…

FinCEN Issues Advisory and Financial Trend Analysis on Chinese Money Laundering Networks

Money Laundering
Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is raising the alarm on Chinese money laundering networks (CMLNs), which pose a significant threat to the U.S. financial system. FinCEN is issuing: (1) an Advisory to urge financial institutions to be vigilant in detecting the use of CMLNs by Mexico-based drug cartels, including several designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations; and (2) a Financial Trend Analysis (FTA) highlighting the scope and breadth of CMLN activity in the United States. “Money laundering networks linked to individual passport holders from the People’s Republic of China enable cartels to poison Americans…

An approach to anti-money laundering compliance for cryptoassets

Digital Currencies, Money Laundering
Key takeawaysExisting anti-money laundering (AML) approaches relying on trusted intermediaries have limited effectiveness with decentralised record-keeping in permissionless public blockchains.The public transaction history on blockchains can enable AML and other compliance efforts, such as FX regulations, by leveraging the provenance and history of any particular unit or balance of a cryptoasset, including stablecoins.An AML compliance score based on the likelihood that a particular cryptoasset unit or balance is linked with illicit activity may be referenced at points of contact with the banking system (“off-ramps”), preventing inflows of the proceeds of illicit activity and supporting a culture of “duty of care”…

Solicitor who handled £8.8m in unverified funds struck off

Money Laundering
A solicitor who failed to carry out money-laundering checks on £8.8 million has been struck off for ‘widespread and fundamental non-compliance’ with AML rules. William Joseph Harris, admitted in April 1980, operated as a sole practitioner and worked mostly in residential conveyancing, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard. The Solicitors Regulation Authority had been raising concerns across the profession about firm-wide risk assessments (FWRA). Harris responded in December 2019 to a notice asking whether his firm had one in place, to which he incorrectly said he did. However during a 2023 interview with an SRA investigator – after the true position…

Spanish Police Arrest Son of Russian Defense Executive in Money Laundering Probe

Money Laundering
Spanish police have arrested Dmitry Artyakov, the son of a top Russian defense official, on suspicion of laundering millions of euros through real estate deals in northeastern Spain. Artyakov, who is under U.S. sanctions, was detained on Saturday at his home in Girona as part of a probe led by Spain’s Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and coordinated by the Audiencia Nacional, Spain’s top criminal court, judicial sources confirmed to OCCRP. Authorities allege Artyakov acquired eight properties, including two adjacent luxury villas, in the coastal town of Castell-Platja d’Aro between 2005 and 2008 through funds linked to the “Troika Laundromat,” a massive…

Top Andorran Bankers Jailed over €70M Laundering Plot

Money Laundering
Andorra’s top court on Tuesday sentenced 18 executives of Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA) to prison terms ranging from three and a half to seven years for laundering money in favor of a single client. The ruling also bars them from working in the banking sector and, in some cases, includes expulsion from the country. The case was unusually complex. The court’s ruling runs 6,180 pages and took 20 months to complete. Legal proceedings began in 2018, spanned 195 days, with each session lasting six hours—and this is just the first of several cases tied to the bank’s collapse. The investigation…

UAE Off EU Watchlist, Critics Say Reforms Fall Short

Law, Regulation & Guidance, Money Laundering
Transparency International has criticized the European Parliament’s decision to approve the removal of the United Arab Emirates from the EU’s high-risk list for money laundering and terrorist financing, warning that the move undermines efforts to protect the bloc’s financial system. “While the UAE has introduced a series of welcome reforms, it’s still too soon to judge whether these have significantly strengthened the country’s defences against dirty money,” Eka Rostomashvili, campaigner at Transparency International, told OCCRP. She pointed to persistent gaps in enforcement, especially in the real estate sector, where suspicious transactions exposed by journalists remain uninvestigated. An investigation Dubai Unlocked,…

Alleged Russian Tax Fraud Mastermind Funneled Millions Into Luxury Dubai Properties

Money Laundering
Perched on a crescent of artificial islands known as Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, the Kempinski Hotel & Residences resembles a sprawling seaside palace. Many of the 244-unit development’s luxurious apartments and villas have reportedly sold for millions of dollars, some even before the complex officially opened in 2011. OCCRP reporters found that among the early investors was a company owned by Dmitry Klyuev, the alleged mastermind of a massive Russian tax scandal known as the Magnitsky Affair. The Magnitsky Affair was named after whistleblower Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in prison after giving evidence to Russian prosecutors about the…

Congress Takes Aim at Dirty Money in the Multi-Billion-Dollar U.S. Art Market

Art Market, Money Laundering
The Antiquities Coalition commends Senators John Fetterman (D-PA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dave McCormick (R-PA), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Andy Kim (D-NJ) for introducing the Art Market Integrity Act, a commonsense proposal to apply anti-money laundering (AML) safeguards to high-risk art transactions. For years, criminals have exploited the art market’s regulatory gaps to move and hide illicit funds, finance armed conflict and terrorism, and evade U.S. sanctions. This bipartisan bill fights back through the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)—a key tool for detecting and preventing financial crime—in recognition of the American art market’s global significance and its growing…

Law firm that failed to spot it was acting for PEP fined £173k

Money Laundering, Regulatory Fines
A law firm that failed to identify that the beneficial owner of its client was a politically exposed person (PEP) has been fined £173,000 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Cambridge-based Taylor Vinters no longer exists, having merged with London firm Mishcon de Reya in 2021 and been fully absorbed in 2023; the misconduct predates that. It has struck a regulatory settlement agreement with the SRA and the size of the fine reflects the fact that it was an alternative business structure, meaning the £25,000 limit on the SRA fines for traditional firms does not apply. The agreement said that,…

HSBC Targeted in Swiss Probe Linked to Ex-Lebanon Central Banker

Money Laundering
HSBC Holdings Plc’s Swiss private bank is the focus of a Swiss investigation into suspected money-laundering connected to the alleged embezzlement of hundreds of millions of dollars by the former head of Lebanon’s central bank. Swiss federal prosecutors opened the probe in January into HSBC Private Bank (Suisse) SA, an unnamed individual and four other “unknown persons” in relation to the case, it said in a statement on Wednesday. It declined to comment further given the probe is ongoing. Since 2020, Swiss prosecutors have been investigating the case surrounding Riad Salameh, Lebanon’s former central bank governor, who was then charged…

Environmental crimes are often hidden by ‘flying money’ laundering schemes (commentary)

Money Laundering, Wildlife Trafficking
In the Tang dynasty, Chinese merchants began buying rice on credit with a system that relied on trust and trade to sidestep the authorities — and taxes — to deliver goods immediately. In China it’s called, feiqian, and across the Middle East and South Asia, it’s known as hawala. These days it’s about more than rice. It’s called “flying money,” and it’s the tool for concealing financial crimes: tax-free remittances, washing dirty money, even funding terror and concealing wildlife crime. “Flying money is often used to denote Chinese money laundering or paying in-kind with a commodity instead of cash,” explains…

Man who tried to smuggle £1.2m in suitcases out of UK jailed

Money Laundering, Prosecutions
A man who tried to smuggle £1.2m in suitcases out of the United Kingdom to Lebanon has been jailed for 21 months, following a National Crime Agency investigation. Mazen Al Shaar custodyMazen Al Shaar, 48, was stopped by Border Force officers on Saturday 15 March this year as he was about to fly from Terminal Three at Heathrow Airport to Beirut in Lebanon. The supermarket worker, of Marsworth Close, Middlesex, said he only had £500 in cash on him and that he was leaving the UK to visit family. But officers searched his three suitcases and two of them contained…

Alleged ‘Albanian Mafia Leader’ in Ecuador Accused of Laundering Cocaine Cash Via UAE Firm

Money Laundering
An alleged Albanian cocaine kingpin based in Ecuador and arrested last week in the United Arab Emirates is accused of using the Middle Eastern country as a money laundering hub, according to court documents obtained by OCCRP. The documents come from a case in Ecuador, where Dritan Gjika is charged with leading a powerful drug trafficking organization. Gjika, 48, was arrested on May 26 in the UAE city of Abu Dhabi on an Ecuadorian warrant. In February, the State Attorney General’s Office named Gjika “the leader of Albanian mafia operations in Ecuador.” The court documents obtained by OCCRP reveal details…