Category: Money Laundering

More than 100 people have been arrested in Spain and Italy following a joint investigation into money laundering. The sting targeted an Italian mafia gang on the Spanish island of Tenerife, who are accused of laundering more than €10 million. The group is alleged to have made its money through a number of online scams in several European countries. The police operation — supported by Europol — led to the arrests of 106 people, authorities said on Monday. Most of the suspects were Italian nationals who were detained in the Canary Islands, Europol said in a statement. Those arrested have…

Even though intent of not seeking source of investment may be good, it can have consequences, officials say A new provision in the Financial Act for this fiscal year that it would not seek source of income from investors if they are investing in infrastructure projects and businesses has raised a question of policy reversal and concerns have also grown if it could aid money laundering. “The government will not seek sources for investments made in the areas of nationally important hydropower projects, international airports, infrastructure projects like underground highways, cement factories, steel factories, agriculture-based businesses, tourism, businesses that create…

Trade body leader, Mark Hayward, suggests that letting agencies should be treated like their sales counterparts to aid AML and stamp out money laundering via property in the UK. Propertymark has called for the €10,000 euro limit on lettings agents having to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) legislation to be scrapped. The trade body’s remarks follow HM Treasury’s announcement that it has launched two consultations to ensure its anti-money laundering processes and supervisory regimes are up to scratch. The Treasury says this offers the opportunity to ensure the regime responds to the UK’s particular circumstances and risks, is as effective…

The European Banking Authority (EBA) recently launched a public consultation on new Guidelines on the role, tasks and responsibilities of anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance officers. The Guidelines also include provisions on the wider AML/CFT governance set-up, including at the level of the group. Once adopted, these Guidelines will apply to all financial sector operators that are within the scope of the AML Directive. This consultation runs until 2 November 2021. The draft Guidelines comprehensively address, for the first time at the level of the EU, the whole AML/CFT governance set-up. They set clear expectations…

NEW YORK, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Danske Bank A/S (DANSKE.CO) and former top executives on Wednesday defeated an appeal in New York by shareholders claiming they were defrauded because the Danish bank allowed widespread money laundering at its former Estonian branch. The lawsuit began after Danske said in September 2018 that an internal probe had uncovered about 200 billion euros ($235 billion) of suspicious transactions through its Estonian branch from 2007 to 2015. But the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that “money-laundering at a single branch in Estonia cannot alone establish that Danske Bank itself carried out a…

There was a dramatic increase in money laundering fines in 2020 as financial crimes boomed during the coronavirus pandemic. Authorities handed out $2.2 billion in fines last year, five times larger than 2019’s total, according to a report from Kroll, a risk consultancy. Financial firms were given the largest fines for failures in anti-money laundering (AML) and suspicious activity monitoring. “The tolerance level for AML failings is seriously reducing and as a result we think fines are going up to reflect that,” says Claire Simm, managing director of financial services compliance at Kroll. Australia doled out the largest fines in…

European Banking Authority proposes guidance for financial-sector compliance officers, part of a wider revamp of how the bloc deals with money laundering The European Union’s banking regulator has proposed guidance for financial-sector compliance officers, another step in the bloc’s effort to revamp its anti-money-laundering system. The proposal from the Paris-based European Banking Authority is the latest move by the EU to harmonize anti-money-laundering rules across member states and shift implementation away from national authorities. In July, the European Commission—the EU’s legislative arm—proposed creating an anti-money-laundering agency with direct supervisory authority over financial companies. The proposal came after twin scandals involving…

The son of Mozambique’s ex-president and 18 others have gone on trial over the $2bn (£1.5bn) “tuna bonds” affair. Ndambi Guebuza, son of former President Armando Guebuza, and the others face charges of blackmail, embezzlement and money laundering. They have not yet commented on the charges. Mozambique’s biggest corruption scandal led donors including the IMF to cut funding for the country and the economy to collapse. The trial is being held in a large canvas tent in the grounds of a maximum-security prison in the outskirts of the capital, Maputo. The city’s courtrooms were deemed too small for the scores…

SummarySeeking views on amendments to the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017. This consultation closes at 11:45pm on 14 October 2021 Consultation descriptionThis consultation invites views and evidence on the steps that the government proposes to take to amend the Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs). These amendments will allow the government to make some time-sensitive updates to the MLRs, which are required to ensure that the UK continues to meet international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force, whilst also strengthening and ensuring clarity on how the anti-money laundering regime operates, following…

“Mikaela Jav” made a name for herself as a DJ, spinning infectious electronic beats on the Spanish island of Ibiza, long famed for its fervent nightlife. The host of “Mikaela & Friends” parties, which kicked off on Saturday nights in the summer of 2015, also had an active presence on Facebook, where she posted sultry, jet-setting photos in Greece, Thailand, and Las Vegas. In Spanish press interviews, DJ Mikaela gushed about her love for Ibiza, her musical inspiration, and her life in Russia, which she described as her home. In fact, OCCRP can reveal in this joint investigation with Transparency…

Countries should view environmental crimes such as illegal forestry, mining, land clearances and waste trafficking – and the associated trading – as a money-laundering (ML) risk, according to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). “Anti-money laundering is often not part of the public policy dialogue on environmental protection,” the Paris-based organisation says in a new report, Money Laundering from Environmental Crimes. “Despite the significant proceeds involved in many cases, jurisdictions are mostly addressing environmental crime as a conservation issue rather than a serious financial crime.” Yet the report cites UN studies showing that the proceeds from environmental crimes are of…

Among non-bank financial institutions, casinos top the list of businesses that federal regulators are scrutinizing for evidence of money laundering — and it’s not hard to see why. Gaming is still largely a cash business, after all, and it’s not unusual for a customer to exchange thousands of dollars in a single visit. Furthermore, a casino’s customers are often one-time visitors and people who move from state to state. And unlike a bank, casinos are not legally required to collect a great deal of personal information from their customers before exchanging large sums of money. For these and many other…

Italy’s Parliamentary Anti Mafia Commission has warned how organised crime has found parallel credit systems and money laundering operations to operate during the Covid pandemic. “In the emergency pandemic increased parallel credit systems, money laundering through small and medium-sized enterprises, forms of violence and aggression,” says the Commission. The Commission also reports that the various mafia groupings in the course of the Covid-19 emergency are launching “a real attack on the State”. Anti Mafia Commission spokesman Sergio Nazzaro said the warnings in the report of the predatory activities by organized crime during the health emergency were approved unanimously. The reports…

SWISS BANK JULIUS BAER has today admitted in court that it took part in a multi-million dollar laundering scheme connected to soccer’s governing body FIFA. The admission comes alongside the announcement of a final agreement between the medium-sized private bank based in Zurich, and the United States Department of Justice. It means the penalty payment of $79.7M originally announced in November of last year will go ahead as planned. “Julius Baer welcomes the final resolution of this legacy matter,” the bank said in a statement Thursday. “This marks another step in Julius Baer’s continued efforts to pursue the closure of…

At the end of 2018, a softly spoken British executive matter-of-factly told the European Parliament how to clean tens of billions of dirty dollars. Howard Wilkinson’s voice shook slightly as he described to MEPs how money from the former Soviet Union was flushed through Danske Bank, where he once worked, into the international financial system. It had been Wilkinson who first blew the whistle on what was happening at the Danish institution, particularly its Estonian subsidiary. Investigators now believe some $200bn was funnelled through the accounts of Danske Bank’s customers. It may have been the biggest money-laundering machine ever uncovered.…

The German financial regulator BaFin has ordered Deutsche Bank to enact further safeguards to prevent money laundering, BaFin said on Friday, a blow to the nation’s largest lender as it tries to repair its reputation. In 2018, BaFin took the extraordinary step of installing the auditor KPMG as a special monitor at Deutsche to oversee progress on money-laundering controls. It was the first time that the German regulator had made such an appointment and followed a series of money laundering lapses. Now, BaFin is expanding KPMG’s mandate. BaFin said in a brief statement that it wanted improved controls particularly regarding…