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24th September 2020

Westpac settles AUSTRAC money laundering case with record A$1.3 billion fine

Westpac has reached a deal with financial crime watchdog AUSTRAC to settle more than 23 million alleged breaches of anti-money laundering laws by paying a record $1.3 billion penalty. The penalty is the biggest in Australian corporate history, and is almost double the previous record $700 million fine paid… Read More

24th September 2020

Commonwealth Bank and St George held accounts for Options Rider investor scam, FinCEN files show

A friend recommended Carmelita Roque invest her savings in Options Rider. Options Rider’s use of Australian banks gave the US Army soldier comfort her money was safe. “Seeing the money that I would be wiring would be going to a country like Australia, in my mind that was convincing enough… Read More

23rd September 2020

FinCEN Files: The accidental money launderer

It’s difficult, with certainty, to pinpoint exactly when Jack’s career as a money launderer began, but around December 2012 stands out. That month he had moved into an apartment in Sydney’s north-west. It was virtually unfurnished except for a simple chair. And one day he sat on it and it… Read More

22nd September 2020

Macquarie, CBA face fresh money laundering scrutiny after data leak

Macquarie Group and Commonwealth Bank are facing fresh scrutiny of their oversight of anti-money laundering laws after it emerged that overseas banks had reported close to $167 million of potential dirty money transactions flowing through the two Australian banks. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalism (ICIJ) has released a… Read More

21st September 2020

Australia: Stockbrokers the new money laundering front line as illicit funds target the ASX

A proposed change to money laundering laws could flood the stock exchange with dirty cash, experts have warned. Financial crime authority AUSTRAC has closed public consultation on a key rule about identifying the source of funds used to buy and sell ASX stocks, which could inadvertently make it easier for… Read More

17th September 2020

Drug kingpins, fraudsters and a jailed banker on leaked Chinese database

Hundreds of Australian people smugglers, fraudsters, drug kingpins and a former Macquarie banker jailed for dealing ecstasy are named on a leaked Chinese database, pointing to Beijing’s use of organised crime figures for gathering intelligence and running foreign interference operations. The database compiled by military contractor China Zhenhua, revealed by The… Read More

16th September 2020

State Street bank hit with million-dollar money laundering fine in Australia

The Australian arm of a global bank is the latest financial institution to be fined for breaching anti-money laundering laws. The US-based State Street bank has been hit with a $1.24 million infringement notice for failing to declare international transfer instructions that potentially left it exposed to organised crime, terrorism,… Read More

11th September 2020

Westpac’s Peter King cautious on Pacific after AUSTRAC

Westpac chief Peter King said the consequences of breaching anti-money laundering laws are so large that the bank can’t guarantee it will be able to continue to provide remittance services for workers in Australia looking to send money home to the Pacific. Briefing the House of Representatives economics committee on… Read More

10th September 2020

No answers from ‘urgent’ Crown casino probe one year later

Victoria’s gambling regulator is yet to report back to the state government on an “urgent” investigation into Crown Resort’s Melbourne casino more than a year after being ordered to examine its infiltration by organised crime. The Andrews government ordered the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation probe after The… Read More

4th September 2020

Police seize Melbourne property in international corruption case

Federal police have seized properties and cash worth $1.6 million over an alleged scheme to use the Melbourne property market to funnel millions of dollars of funds from a Malaysian government entity to corrupt officials. The seized properties and funds in bank accounts were owned by Australian property developer Dennis… Read More

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