Jan 10 2022
Johann Steynberg, a South African known for running the multi-million dollar Ponzi scam Mirror Trading International (MTI), was recently arrested in Brazil. This would be yet another large-scale arrest for the country. A few months ago, Claudio Oliveira of the Bitcoin Banco group was also put behind bars for the disappearance of 7,000 Bitcoin from his …
Jan 10 2022
The European Union has removed Iraq from its list of countries deemed to be high risk for money laundering, six years after first identifying it as a problematic jurisdiction. The EU’s ambassador to Iraq Ville Varjola met prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in Baghdad on January 9, saying he was “bringing the good news … that Iraq has …
Jan 06 2022
Crime involving cryptocurrencies hit an all-time high of $14 billion last year, blockchain researcher Chainalysis said on Thursday, a record that comes as regulators call for more powers over the fast-growing sector. Crypto received by digital wallet addresses linked to illicit activity including scams, darknet markets and ransomware jumped 80% from a year earlier, Chainalysis …
Dec 14 2021
Nearly 40% of the e-payment sector in the United Kingdom, which made more than £500 billion (US$660.2 billion) worth of transactions in 2020/21, have been flagged red — a warning of money laundering risk, a Transparency International UK research published on Tuesday found. While most e-payment enterprises appear to respect the regulations, the paper warns …
Nov 15 2021
French police in the past two months have dismantled two networks that allegedly laundered at least 100 million euro for Paris-based drug traffickers by routing the funds through Chinese textile wholesalers and separately through Pakistani-led construction companies. An initial investigation led to the Sept. 27 arrest of six individuals of Chinese origin working for five …
Nov 15 2021
G-20 leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have reaffirmed their full support for the Financial Action Task Force and recognised that effective implementation of the measures put in place to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation is essential for building confidence in financial markets, ensuring a sustainable recovery and protecting the integrity of the …
Nov 12 2021
The $100 billion infrastructure bill passed by the Senate includes a plan to help cryptocurrency brokers obtain tax reporting requirements similar to the way stockbrokers report to the IRS customer sales. One of the ways lawmakers proposed is to pay for $1 trillion in infrastructure legislation would be to introduce a tax reporting requirement for cryptocurrency brokers, just as …
Nov 02 2021
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis gave up the option of forming a new government after his party lost parliamentary elections, promising a smooth handover of power to the bloc of opposition parties that secured a narrow, surprise win on Oct. 9. Babis’ centrist party ANO (Czech for “Yes”) was defeated by a center-right opposition group. Voting …
Nov 01 2021
Chilean opposition lawmakers have launched impeachment proceedings against President Sebastián Piñera over new details about the sale of a mining company revealed in the Pandora Papers investigation. Chile’s national prosecutor’s office announced Friday that it would open a criminal investigation against President Sebastián Piñera following revelations concerning his business affairs in the Pandora Papers. Investigators said the probe would …
Nov 01 2021
A bipartisan group of lawmakers will introduce legislation this week that for the first time would require trust companies, lawyers, art dealers and others to investigate foreign clients seeking to move money and assets into the American financial system. The proposed law, known as the Enablers Act, would amend the 51-year-old Bank Secrecy Act by …