Financial Crime Online

This week,  a smuggler carrying $3.6 million and a large quantity of jewelry was caught by Mexican army troops in Tijuana, a Mexican border city near San Diego, California. While the recession hits normal people, drug lords and their money launderers still have their unique challenge: how to get huge amounts of street money to the final [...]

In 2005,  asked about accusations that Monaco, a tax-free haven for the rich, had turned a blind eye to money laundering, Prins Albert said the principality had been wrongly accused of not having legislation to fight such crime. He however made it clear that tackling the accusations that Monaco has become a mafia refuge for dirty [...]

In case you wondered why HBO series ”The Sopranos” was shot in New Jersey; because that is where it actually happens (or is it: happened?).  44 People were arrested in a corruption probe, including elected officials, 3 mayors, and religious leaders. The FBI was quoted “New Jersey’s corruption problem is one of the worst, if not the worst, in [...]

How many lawyers have their own Wikipedia page (other than the ones that submit their own one out of vanity of false disbelief it will bring business)?  Actors do, musicians do, but lawyers (or financial crime experts)? Marc Dreier has one. To be honest; he was actually closer to being a succesful actor than anyone would [...]

Criminals and their money launderers do not like all reporting obligations that financial institutions have nowadays. Banks (almost) worldwide report suspicious transactions to local government through Suspicous Activity Reports (SAR’s) or equivalents. Although mostly overflooded with SAR’s, law enforcement actually catches launderers and confiscates criminal funds using them. How to get around that? In Belize [...]

It allegedly started at a Christmas party in 1997. While most people were spending some family quality time, others continued their habit of planning schemes to conquer the world and defraud the globe for millions of dollars. Bourke (owner of a luxury hand bag brand), Kozeny (‘the Pirate of Pague’) and Pinkerton (a former AIG executive) [...]