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Internal Affairs probes second Auckland church over cryptocurrency links

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) is investigating an Auckland church with links to a multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency labelled a scam. It’s the second church to be investigated by the department involving the OneCoin scheme, whose leaders have been charged with fraud by US authorities. In New Zealand, according… Read More

Egrant inquiry raised red flag on money laundering by Azeri rulers inside Pilatus

Transactions at Pilatus Bank involving the daughters of Azerbaijan ruler Ilham Aliyev and the sons of his minister for emergency situations Kamaleddin Heydarov, show “commonly accepted red flags for money laundering”, a forensic review included in the Egrant magisterial inquiry concludes. On the basis of this suspicion that the… Read More

New Zealand central bank plans to ramp up oversight of banks

New Zealand’s central bank said on Wednesday it was ramping up its scrutiny of banks and insurers ahead of its highly anticipated decision on raising bank capital requirements. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s decision to increase oversight on financial institutions comes after a number of high-profile censures of Australian… Read More

27th November 2019

ANZ bank reveals it is reviewing its money-laundering systems amid Westpac scandal

Big four bank ANZ says it launched an internal investigation of whether its anti-money-laundering and counter-terror finance (AML CTF) systems were adequate following scandals at rival banks Commonwealth and Westpac. On Wednesday ANZ said it was revealing the review, which had been under way since June,… Read More

26th November 2019

How to hide $53m: Mogul used mother and son’s finance firm

An Auckland finance firm and its mother and son owners can now be revealed as the company and pair who failed to report $53.4 million of suspicious transactions from a Chinese-Canadian mogul accused of running a $200m pyramid scheme. Jiaxin Finance Limited, Fuqin Che and her son Qiang Fu, also… Read More

13th November 2019

New Zealand: Tax evasion and money laundering linked to freezing of 15 Gisborne properties and $10m

A meth dealer’s boasts to an undercover cop triggered a new police investigation into his father’s financial affairs and a three year legal battle over $10 million and 15 commercial properties in Gisborne. More than $10 million and a commercial property empire owned by a wealthy Singaporean couple have been… Read More

14th October 2019

$4m penalty for Auckland money shop under anti-money laundering laws

An Auckland-based money remitter has been penalised $4 million for failure to comply with recently introduced anti-money laundering laws. Justice Mark Woolford decided Jin Yuan Finance should pay $4 million following a lawsuit from the Department of Internal Affairs. The penalty compares with $5.29 million awarded against Ping An Finance… Read More

1st October 2019

Kiwi company and pair on trial over mogul’s ‘suspicious’ $53m

A company and two employees are on trial accused of failing to report hundreds of “suspicious” transactions involving tens of millions of dollars belonging to an international mogul. It is understood to be the first such criminal case to be heard in New Zealand’s courts since specific anti-money laundering laws… Read More

23rd September 2019

Anti-money laundering laws costing real estate industry ‘multi-millions’

The cost of implementing a raft of new laws has cost the real estate industry tens of millions of dollars, the Real Estate Institute says. A survey of 1861 real estate professionals around the country found 59 percent cited changing regulation as their top concern, whereas two years ago it… Read More

9th September 2019

NZ and Australia plan to lower remittances costs in Pacific

New Zealand is in talks with Australia to lower hefty money transfer fees in several Pacific Island countries, as “stubbornly high” costs strain the region’s economies and hamper UN targets. Remittances are a key source of earnings for many Pacific families who have relatives working abroad and the intervention comes… Read More

11th June 2019

Kim Dotcom fights US extradition in New Zealand’s top court

AP — Internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom and three of his former colleagues on Monday took their fight against being extradited to the U.S. to New Zealand’s top court. The Supreme Court began hearing arguments in the seven-year-old case after Dotcom and the others lost several previous court rulings. But even… Read More

31st August 2018

UK, Five Eyes seek to work with private sector on beneficial ownership, illicit cash

The United Kingdom and its key allies have entered into a fresh agreement to crackdown on illicit cash flows and corporate secrecy which will see their financial intelligence units step up their information sharing and aim to work more closely with the private sector. The partnership was agreed upon this… Read More

27th June 2018

Australia, New Zealand central banks shun ‘volatile’ digital currencies

The central banks of Australia and New Zealand ruled out on Tuesday the notion that they would issue official cryptocurrencies anytime soon, warning the potential damage to their banking systems could outweigh the benefits. Tony Richards, head of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) payments policy, said that bitcoin and… Read More

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