Category: Money Laundering

Rachel Reeves is sitting on a £5billion windfall of Bitcoin seized from organised criminals that could now be used to plug the huge black hole in her budget. The Mail on Sunday has learnt the Government has amassed an astonishing stash of crypto-currency after a money-laundering probe into a Chinese fraud led to one the world’s biggest ever seizures. Valued at an estimated £5.2billion, the seized Bitcoin was last night described as a ‘get out of jail free card’ for the embattled Chancellor amid fears that Britain faces an ‘economic doom loop’. Crucially, the sum is worth more than the…

French authorities have announced their decision to extend the 2023 investigation into Binance, over alleged money laundering accusations. Following this announcement, the French authorities have deepened their investigation into Binance on suspicion that a large cryptocurrency exchange broke European money laundering and terrorist financing laws. The public prosecutor also mentioned that it had opened a judicial investigation into Binance as it was likely to have assisted in habitual money laundering, in particular drug trafficking and tax fraud. The potential offenses were committed in the region of France, but also in all countries of the European Union. France deepens probe into…

Belgian prosecutors have seized about $2 million as part of an investigation into Iryna Kut and her diamond company. In Ukraine, authorities raided her warehouses while investigating a scandal about food sold to the military at inflated prices. Kut has not been charged in either country, and it’s unclear if the cases are connected. Formed in 1893, the Diamond Club of Antwerp “watches over certain moral values in the sector,” and hosts more than 150 companies in its building. Among them is IKG, a firm at the center of a Belgian money laundering investigation. The jewelry and diamond trading company…

Singaporean authorities have announced 17 new suspects in their sprawling investigation of a money laundering network, which cleaned billions reaped from illegal gambling and cyberfraud. Leaked data shows that three of those suspects bought properties worth at least $28 million in Dubai, which has become a magnet for dirty money from around the world. Courts in Singapore have already convicted 10 members of the money laundering syndicate. They were arrested in August 2023, when more than 400 officers swept in on multiple locations throughout the Southeast Asian island state. Prosecutors said shortly afterwards that they had seized $1.32 billion in…

From 12 to 24 November, Europol supported Customs authorities from 23 EU Member States in a large operation against money laundering, transnational criminal activities and terrorism financing. The operation resulted in over 500 cash movement checks and the subsequent detection of illicit cash flows of almost EUR 2.7 million in cash. This amount is likely to increase in the upcoming months as many discoveries are currently being prosecuted. In addition to cash, authorities also seized valuable items such as gold and jewellery, including 18 gold bars with a value exceeding EUR 1,7 million. The joint action was aimed at identifying…

Operatives said to be behind a billion-dollar Russian money-laundering network – used by drug dealers, financial criminals and foreign spies – have been sanctioned and arrested in a coordinated international investigation led by the National Crime Agency. The UK law enforcement body, which tackles serious and organised crime, said the actions constituted the “most significant money laundering operation” it had undertaken in the past few years. The operation involved America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation, France’s Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire and Ireland’s Garda. The networks are said to have laundered cash and cryptocurrencies for serious and organised crime gangs…

WASHINGTON—The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today issued a cease-and-desist order (order) against Bank of America, N.A. (bank) for deficiencies related to its Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and sanctions compliance programs. The OCC took this action based on violations and unsafe or unsound practices relating to these programs, including a failure to timely file suspicious activity reports and failure to correct a previously identified deficiency related to its Customer Due Diligence processes. The order also identifies deficiencies in the internal controls, governance, independent testing, and training components of the bank’s BSA compliance program. The order requires the…

Angelo Figliomeni was at the center of a media storm when police brought organized crime and money laundering charges against him in 2019. But the charges were never tried in court, and two top banks continued to do business with him, documents show. With Toronto Dominion Bank already reeling from historic fines in the U.S. for conspiracy to commit money laundering, evidence has emerged that the bank continues to do business in Canada with alleged mafia boss Angelo Figliomeni. Property documents show that Toronto Dominion, better known as TD Bank, continues to provide financing for Figliomeni on two homes in…

The U.K.’s National Crime Agency successfully argued in a High Court case in London that accounts at the Banque Internationale à Luxembourg were used to move millions from a high profile embezzlement case in Azerbaijan into expensive properties. Accounts at a major Luxembourg bank played a “central” role in moving funds from an embezzlement scheme that led to the imprisonment of the former chairman of the International Bank of Azerbaijan, Jahangir Hajiyev, according to the U.K.’s National Crime Agency (NCA). The claim by the NCA sheds light on how tens of millions of dollars stolen from Azerbaijan’s most important state-owned…

Switzerland’s parliament is unlikely to adopt rules forcing lawyers to fight money laundering as many lawmakers are themselves attorneys, the country’s finance minister said. “It’s very difficult because there are a lot of lawyers in parliament and they really don’t feel that they have anything to do with that,” Karin Keller-Sutter said on Thursday at a Bloomberg event in Zurich. Her comments come as the Swiss parliament debates a draft law that would force companies to declare their real ownership and require lawyers to flag suspect transactions — or face criminal prosecution. With Switzerland’s traditional bank secrecy now notionally a…

Citigroup Inc., one of the largest banking institutions in the United States, has been ordered to significantly overhaul its anti-money laundering (AML) compliance programs following deficiencies uncovered by federal regulators. A consent order, issued jointly by the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), requires Citigroup to implement sweeping reforms across its subsidiaries to address critical lapses in its oversight and governance. Citigroup’s global operations, including its ownership of Citibank, N.A. in South Dakota and Banamex USA in California, are governed by stringent U.S. anti-money laundering laws. The Bank…

A man who laundered more than £2m has been jailed after being extradited back to the UK. Calin Barta, 29, originally from Romania, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court to four years and 10 months in prison. Three years ago, Surrey Police executed a warrant at an address in Woking as part of an investigation into indecent image offences. However, whilst at the property, officers said they found multiple mobile phones and bank card readers along with 38 passports in different names but all with the same photo. Barta returned to Romania while he was on bail, said police. Surrey’s…

A lack of proper oversight across the City of London’s network of lawyers, bookkeepers and accountants is hampering efforts to crack down on dirty money being funnelled through the UK, the City watchdog has warned. The latest report by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) flagged concerns over the work of the UK’s 25 professional bodies – which oversee the accounting and legal sectors – and found that some were spending as little as £73 a year on anti-money laundering supervision or were outsourcing it entirely to third parties. It also found “weaknesses” in how bodies were using their powers, resulting…

Hong Kong Customs mounted an operation codenamed “Fencing” yesterday (August 7) and dismantled a money laundering syndicate receiving suspicious funds from the Asia-Pacific region. It was suspected that the syndicate masterminds and members made use of shell companies and cryptocurrency to launder crime proceeds amounting to about $1.5 billion. During the operation, Customs arrested four persons suspected to be connected with the case and has already arranged to freeze a total of about $2.2 million in assets held by the arrestees.      Earlier this year, Customs officers identified a money laundering syndicate for a financial investigation. It was revealed that the…

Seven people have been jailed for operating an undercover £55m money-laundering ring aimed at international university students seeking to bypass limits on the amount of cash that can be taken out of China. Four people – three men and one woman – were sentenced at Snaresbrook crown court on Monday for a range of money-laundering offences. In June, three others were sentenced for similar offences. They were handed sentences ranging from 11 months to 12 years. Chinese citizens cannot transfer more than $50,000 (£38,000) for personal purposes out of the country a year. To regulate this, citizens are required to…

A property law firm in Manchester has been handed a fine of nearly £22,000 for failures in anti-money laundering (AML) procedures, towards the top end of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) powers. The fine represented 2.4% of the firm’s turnover, with the SRA acknowledging that “there was no evidence that actual harm had materialised”. According to an SRA notice, an inspection in early 2023 identified various areas of concern surrounding the firm’s compliance with the 2017 Money Laundering Regulations. This led to an investigation that found that GD Legal, which handles both residential and commercial property work, did not have…

There has been an increase in the number of alleged fraud cases heard in Crown Courts across the country, with money laundering being the most common fraud type by value in the last six months.According to new data by KPMG’s Fraud Barometer, 122 fraud cases in total were heard in the first six months of the year at the Crown Courts. This figure is up from 105 cases during the same period in 2023.Nine cases of money laundering, worth a collective £128.2m, have been heard so far this year.This increase comes on the back of a well-documented court system is…

An investigation lasting over two years has uncovered an intricate money laundering scheme run by a mafia family from Palermo. The total value of their profits is estimated at over EUR 500 million. They reinvested the profits of their crimes in multiple companies in Brazil. Cooperation between Italian, Brazilian and Swiss authorities led to the arrest of a member of the organised crime group (OCG) during an action day on 13 August, as well as the freezing of financial assets worth EUR 50 million during several searches in Italy, Brazil and Switzerland.To support other major mafia families, the OCG was…

Experts from Transparency International Russia (in exile) have conducted an in-depth analysis of illegal money transfers from Russia to the UK through e-payments over the past decade.This research examines the sophisticated trade of verified business bank accounts, often exploited by criminals to obscure large-scale financial transfers. The investigation highlights significant regulatory gaps and the use of dark web marketplaces where these accounts are sold, often registered under false identities with genuine documents. The study reveals that high-risk profiles, including politically exposed persons (PEPs and complex corporate structures exacerbate these risks.The report identifies several e-payment platforms, which have been exploited for…

The FCA has told financial firms – including banks, payment firms and lenders – to do more to ensure parliamentarians, senior public servants and their families are not treated unfairly. Under legislation adopted by Parliament, financial firms are required to do extra checks on so-called politically exposed persons (PEPs). This follows global standards set by the international Financial Action Task Force and implemented by more than 200 jurisdictions. There have been concerns about how firms in the UK are meeting these requirements and so the FCA has reviewed how firms are treating PEPs. The FCA found that most firms in…