Financial Crime Online

Another high profile “PEP” investigation. Arafat’s former aide has been accused of funneling millions of public funds abroad. The money allegedly was wired from Palestinian Investment Fund bankaccounts to accounts held by shell companies under his control. In 2009, CBS reported on secret accounts in Israel (..) and Switzerland held by the Palestinian Investment Fund. Check [...]

Nigerian corruption is as common as Nigerian oil. And the 419 scam. Or is it? When confronted with details of actual corruption cases, it is that most people come to realize the impact of corruption on a nation. A former Nigerian state governor pleaded guilty in a London court this week on corruption charges. James [...]

Pirates made som $170 million in 2011, against $110 mio in 2010. The source of this information obviously is not their combined tax filings. It is an estimate by UNODC, similar to the estimates of money launderd globally. You can choose to think it is either actually a lot more or, a lot less. Ransom money is increasingly [...]

Think of Iran and financial crime; you were thinking about sanctions and OFAC right? Did we forget that Iran has its fair share of fraudsters as well?  Asides from election fraud and what not, ‘from for the money’ has been around in Persia for a while. Following arrests that took place around September last year, [...]

Rajina Rita Subramaniam gets 15 years for defrauding ING in Australia. The accountant at ING led a ‘normal’ life in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, in the eyes of many. But she defrauded ING of around $45 over the course of years. According to the SMHreport, Subramaniam made 200 illegal transfers in the course of [...]

The FATF updated its recommendations. According to a press release, the main changes are: The main changes are: Combating the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction through the consistent implementation of targeted financial sanctions when these are called for by the UN Security Council. Improved transparency to make it harder for criminals [...]

Fox business reports that U.S. Gangs Turn to White-Collar Crime: The evolving criminal schemes, which include mortgage fraud, counterfeiting, bank and credit card fraud and identity theft, are attractive because they are much less risky than traditional gang-related crimes such as murder, drug trafficking and robbery, and have the potential to yield much greater profits, [...]

UBS stock took a 7% hit today after the news was published that a rogue trader had been arrested. A 31 year old London based UBS broker allegedly surprised his employer with a $2 billion loss due to unauthorized trading. Who doubted that banks took risk management extremely serious after the mortgage crisis and Kerviel [...]

Remember the 9-11 Commission: According to Commission Chairman Thomas Kean, “Right now we have been spending a lot of energy in the government trying to dry up sources of funding. When it only costs $400,000 to $500,000 to pull off an operation like 9/11, we’ll never dry up money. But by using the money trail, [...]

“Moammar Gadhafi is a fugitive whose country of nationality and the International Criminal Court want arrested and held accountable for the serious criminal charges that have been brought against him,” said Interpol Secretary General Ronald Noble. No sign of the man himself. His wealth seems to have been spread around the world. Both the EU [...]