Financial Crime

15th June 2020

France Moves to Embrace Fight Against Corporate Corruption

The prosecution of French companies by the U.S. for their business practices abroad has long been a sore point for some in France. Now, France’s top law enforcement official has released guidance suggesting that it could adopt an approach to corporate corruption and bribery championed by the country it once… Read More

9th June 2020

‘Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime’ Formally Launches

The Global Coalition to Fight Financial Crime (GCFFC) has announced its public launch, bringing together 13 key players from the anti-financial crime ecosystem to raise awareness, promote information sharing between public and private entities, and enhance the effectiveness of controls against money laundering. The GCFFC was first unveiled in 2018,… Read More

5th June 2020

How to scour your organization for pandemic fraud risks

The coronavirus pandemic is placing unbelievable strain on all facets of the world economy, with stay-at-home and shutdown orders shuttering some industries and disrupting most others. The abrupt shift to working from home has created new and varied opportunities for fraudsters and criminals to ply their trades. But there are… Read More

4th June 2020

Mexico probes Libre Abordo’s oil-for-food pact with Venezuela

The Mexican government’s financial crime department is investigating Libre Abordo, a Mexico-based firm that received millions of barrels of Venezuelan crude under an oil-for-food pact, in a probe coordinated with U.S. agencies, the department’s chief, Santiago Nieto, told Reuters. The Mexican Financial Intelligence Unit is also separately investigating several other… Read More

2nd June 2020

Are Criminals Playing Games with Us?

We all like to kill a goblin or two online, but most people would agree multiplayer games are not the place for real-world crime. With lockdowns continuing around the globe and people staying at home, it is no wonder that the popularity of online gaming has skyrocketed. And as in-game… Read More

28th May 2020

Sweden’s Money Laundering Affair Brings Bankers Closer to Police

The bank at the center of Sweden’s biggest money-laundering scandal says illegal transactions are probably still flowing through the financial system, because existing tools to stop them aren’t good enough. Swedbank AB, which was fined over $400 million in March for failing to halt suspicious flows, has now… Read More

21st May 2020

Coronavirus: Benefit claims fraud could be £1.5bn

Benefit officials have told the BBC they fear that as much as £1.5bn may have been lost in fraudulent claims for Universal Credit in recent weeks. Huge demand for the benefit has seen some processes relaxed to ensure the majority of claims are paid quickly. But officials believe that some… Read More

20th May 2020

Westpac dumps EY for risk review

Westpac has elected to dump EY for a review of its risk management processes three years after its last review found “known and ongoing risks” within the bank’s anti-money laundering systems including “poor data quality”, “manual workarounds” and “historical underinvestment”. The reviews are required under APRA’s CPS 220 and are… Read More

19th May 2020

Fraud Factory Firms Traced to Penniless Proxies

By Mattias Carlsson, Holger Roonemaa, Oliver Kund and Hannes Munzinger, OCCRP, 18 May 2020 OCCRP — Rita is almost 13,000 euros in debt and was convicted of shoplifting a bottle of gin. Ricardo is unemployed and has been arrested several times for drug possession and driving without a license. His mother,… Read More

13th May 2020

Vatican official was director in London property broker’s company

As the Vatican’s Secretariat of State finalized its purchase of a London luxury apartment building, a lay secretariat official who oversaw investments was appointed a director of a company owned by the financier who brokered the property deal. Vatican sources tell CNA that appointment is now under investigation, as Vatican… Read More