Category: Money Laundering

Eight-year NCA investigation denies organised crime group £17 million property portfolio

Drug Trafficking, Fraud, Money Laundering
Fifty nine properties worth an estimated £17 million have been recovered following National Crime Agency investigations into a prolific organised crime group carried out over almost a decade. In addition to a successful criminal investigation, the NCA conducted four linked civil recovery investigations over an eight-and-a-half year period into dozens of individuals who were suspected of financial links to drug dealers in East Birmingham. NCA officers established that the properties were acquired using the proceeds of crime including heroin importation and distribution, fraud and money laundering. Alam and Ameran Zeb Khan have both been convicted of drug trafficking offences, the…

A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit accusing Denmark’s Danske Bank A/S and four former top executives of defrauding shareholders by hiding and failing to stop widespread money laundering at its former Estonian branch.

Money Laundering
U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan said shareholders in the proposed class action failed to sufficiently plead that the bank improperly reported revenue derived from money laundering or downplayed its supervision failures. She also said the plaintiffs, led by four pension funds in New York and Massachusetts, failed to show that Danske acted recklessly or with conscious disregard that its statements were false and misleading. “They allege in a conclusory way that defendants and employees of (Danske) received reports contradicting public statements, and fail to connect any of those reports to specific representations by specific persons,” Caproni wrote. The…

Banks and financial institutions need to assess money-laundering risks and conduct appropriate due diligence when dealing with foreign public officials and their families or associates, five regulatory agencies said.

Money Laundering
People who are considered politically exposed may pose higher risks because their funds may be the proceeds of corruption or other illicit activities, the banking regulators said in a joint statement. The agencies added, however, that risks associated with politically exposed individuals vary and not all of them are automatically higher risk. The agencies don’t include U.S. public officials in the politically exposed persons category. “The risk depends on facts and circumstances specific to the customer relationship,” said the statement issued Friday by the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the National…

Extending criminal liability for money laundering: update on Germany’s new draft law implementing the latest EU AML directive

Money Laundering
August 21 2020 In January, a draft bill reforming the crime of money laundering in Germany (section 261 of the German Criminal Code (StGB)) was leaked. In a February blog post, we criticised how broad the suggested definition was. Last week, the official draft bill was published by the Federal Ministry of Justice. Much to the surprise of German anti-money laundering (AML) circles, it goes even further. The most important change compared to the unofficial draft and the law in place today is the complete elimination of a catalogue of suitable predicate offences. A ‘predicate offence’ is the underlying crime that…

Will the e-money boom make the UK a hub of money laundering?

Money Laundering
openDemocracy investigation finds that international money launderers are moving into Britain’s e-money business – with the Financial Conduct Authority’s official seal of approval. Article By David Leask Richard Smith COVID is killing cash. Even as lockdowns loosen, consumers are turning away from notes and coins like never before. A survey in April found four out of five Britons – many forced to do all their shopping online – were considering new digital ways to pay. Some are turning to ‘e-money’, with a raft of new money-handling products aiming to challenge industry leader PayPal. From a health point of view, this…

Global Witness exposes international Syrian – Russian money laundering network financing brutal Al-Assad regime (Global Witness)

Money Laundering
New report shows how Syrian-Russian money laundering network uses anonymous companies in the EU and UK Overseas Territories Read the full report, Assad’s Money Men in Moscow, here. Global Witness reveals today the workings of a Syrian-Russian money laundering network that has helped prop up President Bashar al-Assad’s regime during the ongoing armed conflict. This assistance ranged from helping the regime purchase fuel and banknotes to providing front companies possibly used by its chemical weapons and ballistic missiles programme. Close associates of the network also appear to have helped embargoed North Korean firms evade UN sanctions.  The report, Assad’s Money Men…

Founder of Anti-Money Laundering Bitcoin Project indicted for money laundering

Investigation, Money Laundering
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted the founder of “AML Bitcoin” on money laundering and wire fraud charges. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also filed charges, alleging the AML Bitcoin team violated federal securities laws. According to a court filing dated June 22, Texas resident Rowland Marcus Andrade, the founder of the NAC Foundation, allegedly raised funds by conducting an initial coin offering for tokens representing AML Bitcoin, telling investors that the tokens would ultimately be converted into actual AML Bitcoin (which isn’t actual bitcoin). The SEC and DOJ also charged longtime DC lobbyist Jack Abramoff on conspiracy, lobbying disclosure and deceptive practices counts, alleging he…

Six arrested and luxury cars seized as part of drugs and money laundering conspiracy

Investigation, Money Laundering
Suspected members of an organised crime group in Merseyside have been arrested as part of a drug trafficking conspiracy. Five men, aged between 35 and 48, and a woman aged 35, were arrested in raids on Thursday 18 June, in the Wirral and Wallasey, and Deeside, by officers from the National Crime Agency, with support from Merseyside Police. All five men were apprehended on suspicion of conspiracy to import controlled drugs, conspiracy to launder money, and participating in the activities of an organised crime group. The woman was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to import controlled drugs and money laundering.…

Police bust alleged B1bn drug-money laundering operation

Money Laundering
Police arrested six people during raids in Samut Prakan and Nonthaburi and seized assets worth about 100 million baht on Wednesday, in an operation aimed at suspects in the laundering of a billion baht of drug traffickers’ money. Six premises were searched in Samut Prakan. The prime location was house 129/72 in the Chaiyapruek housing estate in tambon Bang Muang of Muang district. It belonged to Naruepol Phapphithee and his wife Patthama Buathong, who were named in arrest warrants. Police suspect them of laundering money for several drug gang leaders, including Pannawit Prathum, aka Kokae, and Theppabut Solo, who is…