News – Page 26

Swedish Court Sends Ex-CEO of Swedbank to Prison

Bonnesen was cleared of all charges in January 2023. An expert called the verdict of the Svea Court of Appeals “unprecedented.” Bonnesen claimed that there were “no suspected money laundering-ties to Danske Bank’s operations in Estonia,” and that Swedbank “had gone through everything” to make sure there were no problems in the Baltics. The court concluded that two of the answers were incorrect or misrepresented facts in a way that they were misleading.

Source: OCCRP, 2024-09-18; https://www.occrp.org/en/news/swedish-court-sends-ex-ceo-of-swedbank-to-prison

Thousands Arrested in Global Operation Targeting Cybercrime

Authorities in 61 countries collaborated last week to dismantle multiple online scam networks, freezing 6,745 bank accounts and seizing assets worth US$257 million. This led to the arrest of 3,950 suspects and the identification of 14,643 potential suspects. During the operation, police intercepted approximately $135 million in cash and seized real estate, luxury vehicles, high-end jewelry, and other valuable items worth over $12. INTERPOL’stargeted phishing, investment fraud, fake online shopping sites, romance scams, and impersonation scams worldwide.

Source: , 2024-07-02; https://www.occrp.org/en/daily//en/daily/18846-thousands-arrested-in-global-operation-targeting-cybercrime

Egyptian Tycoon Revealed As Owner of Jet in Zambian Gold Scam Case

Ibrahim al-Organi is an Egyptian tycoon and leader of a large tribe. He was once jailed during Bedouin protests, but now leads a tribal alliance that helps keep the Sinai peninsula under government control. He is also the chairman of the Organi Group, a sprawling network of companies in real estate development and security. Zambian authorities raided and seized a private jet a day after it landed in the count, acting on a tip, almost a year after the case began.

Source: , 2024-07-02; https://www.occrp.org/en/daily//en/daily/18842-egyptian-tycoon-revealed-as-owner-of-jet-in-zambian-gold-scam-case

Bulgarian Entrepreneur Charged with Fraud to Obtain EU Funds for Dairy Facility

Bulgarian entrepreneur allegedly falsified documents for a loan to fund construction of a dairy processing facility. Prosecutors said that the entrepreneur requested the loan after receiving support from the Bulgarian’s State Fund for Agriculture to build and manage a factory designed to process raw milk and other dairy products. The request was rejected upon review of the paying agency, who said the application did not meet certain requirements. EPPO told OCCRP that the bank guarantee on the application was only set to come into force on the day the advance payment was received, rather than the date of the application’s issuance.

Source: , 2024-07-02; https://www.occrp.org/en/daily//en/daily/18841-bulgarian-entrepreneur-charged-with-fraud-to-obtain-eu-funds-for-dairy-facility

EU Adopts 14th Round of Sanctions Against Russia’s War on Ukraine

The new package prohibits all future business dealings with Russian LNG projects. Any vessel with Russian. LNG on its manifest will no longer be permitted to dock in an EU port if. the shipment is ultimately destined for a third country. For the first time since Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade, the EU will take action against Moscow. The measures are meant to further sever the West from its dependency on Russia’s vast energy reserves. The EU will also deny Moscow future opportunities to export LNG through its terminals not connected to the EU gas pipeline network.

Source: , 2024-07-02; https://www.occrp.org/en/daily//en/daily/18832-eu-adopts-14th-round-of-sanctions-against-russia-s-war-on-ukraine

South Africa Arrests over Half a Million in One-Year Operation Targeting Crime

The men were apprehended in Kagiso, West Rand, as part of the over one-year-old Operation Shanela. South Africa is the continent’s most developed country, but its crime rate remains one of the highest in the world. According to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, the country has one ofThe highest murder rates globally. Since May 2023, exactly 551,506 suspects have been arrested for various crimes across the country since May 20 23.

Source: , 2024-07-02; https://www.occrp.org/en/daily//en/daily/18840-south-africa-arrests-over-half-a-million-in-one-year-operation-targeting-crime

From AI to Bitcoin Mining: Here’s a Timeline of Tether’s Latest Investments

The largest stablecoin issuing company, Tether, has recently made a lot of investments in emerging crypto and artificial intelligence firms. Tether’s funding will enable XREX to revolutionize financial transactions in emerging markets by offering businesses ease, efficiency, and lower costs. The stablecoin issuer that it had strategically injected $18.75 million into the blockchain-enabled financial institution to drive innovation and facilitate cross-border settlements via its flagship stablecoin, USDT, for emerging markets. In addition, XREZ will collaborate with the Unitas Foundation to launch XAU1, a USD-pegged unitized stablecoin over-reserved with Tet.

Source: Mandy Williams, 2024-06-10; https://cryptopotato.com/from-ai-to-bitcoin-mining-heres-a-timeline-of-tethers-latest-investments/

British-Chinese Woman Sentenced to 6 Years for Laundering Bitcoin in $6B Scam

Jian Wen, a British-Chinese woman, has been sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for her role in laundering Bitcoin proceeds from a $6 billion investment scam in China. Wen, aged 42, was found guilty in March of laundering Bitcoin on behalf of her former boss, Yadi Zhang, whose real name is Zhimin Qian. Qian is alleged to have defrauded around 130,000 investors in China, amassing a whopping $5 billion through an investment scam. In 2018, UK police seized over $2.2 billion worth of bitcoin related to the alleged fraud.

Source: Chayanika Deka, 2024-06-02; https://cryptopotato.com/british-chinese-woman-sentenced-to-6-years-for-laundering-bitcoin-in-6b-scam/

Bybit Faces Leadership Shakeup After Notcoin Listing Controversy: Report

Bybit is reportedly facing an internal leadership shakeup following a controversial incident involving the listing of Notcoin (NOT) Several executives have reportedly “voluntarily resigned” after the incident, and the exchange is now publicly recruiting new technical and spot managers. During the listing, an issue arose when not all users received their airdrop of tokens before trading started. This delay disadvantaged them compared to those with access to the free tokens. The trading price on Bybit was subsequently much lower than on other exchanges.

Source: Wayne Jones, 2024-06-01; https://cryptopotato.com/bybit-faces-leadership-shakeup-after-notcoin-listing-controversy-report/

Bitcoin Has Entered The More Mature Part Of Its Adoption Cycle: Fidelity

Fidelity’s Director of Global Macro Jurrien Timmer says Bitcoin is already entering the latter part of its S-curve adoption cycle. Timmer believes Bitcoin will size up next to gold, and where the asset belongs within a traditional 60/40 portfolio. The recent approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs in January has helped “democratize” the asset, putting it “on the menu” for investors regardless of their technical sophistication, Timmer said in an interview published on Tuesday.

Source: Andrew Throuvalas, 2024-06-05; https://cryptopotato.com/bitcoin-has-entered-the-more-mature-part-of-its-adoption-cycle-fidelity/

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