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July 9, 2021
On the wires
Head Of Telemarketing Operation Charged In $19 Million Credit Card Laundering Scheme
“Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the arrest today of STEVEN SHORT, the former head of E.M. Systems & Services, LLC, and affiliated companies (“E.M. Systems”), on charges of fraudulently obtaining credit card processing services for his deceptive Florida-based telemarketing operation.”
May 14, 2021
On the web
Binance Faces Probe by U.S. Money-Laundering and Tax Sleuths
Bloomberg
“Binance Holdings Ltd. is under investigation by the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service, ensnaring the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange in U.S. efforts to root out illicit activity that’s thrived in the red-hot but mostly unregulated market. As part of the inquiry, officials who probe money laundering and tax offenses have sought information from individuals with insight into Binance’s business, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be named because the probe is confidential.”
March 24, 2021
On the wires
Crypto-Friendly Fintech Wirex Temporarily Pauses Recruiting New UK Customers
“The Fintech company Wirex has announced its decision to voluntarily pause new UK customers of its popular app as of 24th March 2021. The pause is a temporary measure and follows constructive dialogue with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK regulator. From this date, Wirex will temporarily pause accepting new clients who are resident in the UK. The company – which serves nearly 3.5 million customers worldwide – will dedicate resources to further strengthen its 5AMLD (Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive) compliance protocols, conforming with the updated best practice guidelines set by the UK regulator.”
January 19, 2021
On the web
Capital One Fined $290M for ‘willful’ Anti-money-laundering Failures
American Banker
“Capital One Financial has been hit with a $290 million penalty after admitting to the U.S. Treasury Department that it willfully violated anti-money laundering requirements between 2008 and 2014. The problems, which involved a unit that served cash-checking businesses and has since been shut down, were first revealed years ago. But documents released Friday by Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network contained new details, including Capital One’s admission that it failed to file suspicious activity reports even when it knew about criminal charges against specific customers.”
January 6, 2021
Top Post
Money Laundering Via Author Impersonation on Amazon?
KrebsOnSecurity
“Patrick Reames had no idea why Amazon.com sent him a 1099 form saying he’d made almost $24,000 selling books via Createspace, the company’s on-demand publishing arm. That is, until he searched the site for his name and discovered someone has been using it to peddle a $555 book that’s full of nothing but gibberish.”
December 14, 2020
On the web
U.S. Congress bans anonymous shell companies
Reuters
“The U.S Senate on Friday passed a bill overhauling anti-money laundering rules and banning anonymous shell companies, a victory for law enforcement and rights groups which have long sought changes to make it easier to police illicit money flows. The bill requires most companies to report their true beneficial owners to the government, allows greater information sharing between law enforcement and regulators, and authorizes the use of new suspicious activity monitoring tools.”
December 10, 2020
On the web
Criminals getting smarter in use of digital currencies to launder money
Reuters
“Criminals are becoming more sophisticated in their use of cryptocurrencies to launder money, with hundreds of millions of dollars of dirty funds last year flowing through digital wallets that allow users to hide their trail, according to Elliptic. At least 13% of all criminal proceeds in bitcoin passed through privacy wallets – which make it harder to track cryptocurrency transactions – in 2020, up from 2% in 2019, according to a study by the digital currency forensics firm.”
November 19, 2020
On the wires
Nasdaq to Acquire Verafin, Creating a Global Leader in the Fight Against Financial Crime
“Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ), a global technology company, and Verafin , an industry pioneer in anti-financial crime management solutions, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Nasdaq to acquire Verafin for US$2.75 billion in cash, subject to customary adjustments. The agreement will combine Verafin’s comprehensive suite of anti-financial crime management products with Nasdaq’s reach and established regulatory technology leadership to create a global SaaS leader in the fight against financial crime, a worldwide problem that demands innovative action.”
November 18, 2020
On the web
Criminals launder coronavirus relief money, exploit victims through popular apps
CNBC
“Criminals are laundering illegally obtained funds meant for Covid-19 relief through the most popular apps for legally sending and receiving money, law enforcement officials say. Cash App, Venmo, Zelle and PayPal have become portals to easily move money, making transactions more difficult to trace.”
October 2, 2020
On the web
BitMEX Founders Charged With Failing to Prevent Laundering
Bloomberg (paywall)
“Founders of the pioneering crypto-derivatives exchange BitMEX were charged with skirting U.S. laws preventing money laundering and hit with civil sanctions as well, abruptly sending the price of Bitcoin down. Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed were indicted in New York, where federal prosecutors claim the digital-asset exchange served American customers while flouting U.S. banking laws.”
September 17, 2020
On the web
Nasdaq Makes Push Into Anti-Money Laundering Tech with New AI-Based System
Reuters
“Exchange group Nasdaq said on Wednesday that it is launching AI technology to help retail and commercial banks automate anti-money laundering (AML)investigations, as it expands into the financial crime software market. The company hopes the system can make it quicker and cheaper for banks and other financial institutions to sift through the deluge of alerts flagging possible cases of money laundering generated by bank transaction monitoring systems.”
September 16, 2020
On the web
Money-Launderers Use Chinese Online Shopping Sites to Funnel Cash Offshore
Financial Times
“Money launderers have used some of China’s leading online shopping sites to transfer billions of dollars to offshore gambling sites, police raids have revealed. People wishing to evade China’s strict capital controls, for example to gamble on offshore websites, have been placing fake orders on the shopping sites, including on Pinduoduo, China’s second-largest platform by users. A corresponding sum is then credited to their gaming account.”
July 1, 2020
On the wires
Credorax Partners With Feedzai for Innovative Anti-Money Laundering Solution
“Today, licensed bank and smart payments provider, Credorax, and risk management platform Feedzai announced a new partnership to provide Credorax merchants with advanced anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-fraud capabilities, leading to increased payment security, reduced operational costs and an improved customer experience. The partnership between Credorax and Feedzai first began in 2018, when Credorax elected to combine its merchant acquiring technology and services with Feedzai’s advanced machine learning capabilities to protect its customers from fraud. Since then, Credorax’s merchants have been protected in real-time from threats, while improving the overall customer experience.”
August 12, 2019
On the web
Mexico Considers Banning Cash for Gasoline Purchases, Highway Tolls
Bloomberg
“Mexico is considering a ban on the use of cash for purchasing gasoline and to pay for tolls as a way to fight tax evasion and money laundering, according to people with direct knowledge of the discussions. The plan, which has been discussed between the banking industry and the government, hasn’t been fully approved. A final decision may not be taken until after the central bank rolls out its digital payments platform known as CoDi next month which is part of a broader government program to push more Mexicans into the banking system and cut down on cash, said the people who asked not to be named, since the plan isn’t public.”
May 2, 2019
On the web
$356 Million in Cryptocurrency Stolen in First Three Months of 2019
Hard Fork | The Next Web
“Cryptocurrency thieves earned at least $356 million in the first quarter of 2019, which could see the industry face a billion-dollar money laundering problem by year’s end. Payments from US-based exchanges to offshore cryptocurrency wallets also increased 46 percent over the last two years, analytics firm CipherTrace reports with new research . “Once these payments reach exchanges and wallets in other parts of the globe, they fall off the radar of US authorities,” said CiperTrace. “This highlights a major regulatory blind spot for the US.””
March 28, 2019
On the web
Swedbank Fires CEO Over Money Laundering Allegations
Bloomberg
“Swedbank AB has fired its chief executive officer, Birgitte Bonnesen, amid allegations the bank was used to launder billions of dollars in Russian money on her watch. Bonnesen, 62, will be replaced on an interim basis by Chief Financial Officer Anders Karlsson, the bank said on Thursday as the board prepared to face shareholders at an annual general meeting in Stockholm. The announcement came just moments after three of Swedbank’s biggest investors made clear they’d lost confidence in Bonnesen, after she appeared to mislead the public about the seriousness of the laundering case.”
Hunting Money Launderers? There’s AI for That
Roll Call
“Encouraged by a recent green light from regulators, the financial services industry is exploring new ways of using artificial intelligence to help them comply with banking regulations and to better detect fraudulent transactions used by criminals and terrorists.”
February 4, 2019
On the web
Banks are Better than Bitcoin (When It Comes to Money Laundering)
NewsBTC
“On September 19, 2018, Denmark’s largest bank, Danske Bank, confirmed that its Estonian branch had illegally funneled $230 billion from Russia to Europe. That was 25,000 times more than what ShapeShift allegedly laundered. In fact, that was more significant than the combined market capitalization of cryptocurrencies at that time.”
October 5, 2018
Top Post
North Korean hackers tied to massive global theft
Politico
“Over the past several years, North Korea has continued to perfect its hacker armies that have carried out some of the most devastating digital attacks around the world. Last month, the Justice Department unsealed charges against Park Jin Hyok for his part in the 2014 Sony Pictures hack as well as for aiding in the Bangladesh theft and the damaging WannaCry malware outbreak.”
September 20, 2018
On the web
Danske Bank CEO quits over $234 billion money laundering scandal
Reuters
“Danske Bank’s (DANSKE.CO) chief executive Thomas Borgen resigned on Wednesday after an investigation revealed payments totaling 200 billion euros ($234 billion) through its small Estonian branch, many of which the bank said were suspicious.”