Financial Crime Online

Remember reports last year that Al Qaeda was in the worst state from a financial point of view since years? We should also remember Sun Tzu: no matter how weak your enemy has become; crush your enemy before he regains strength. “We need to redouble our efforts to combat the financial support networks of al [...]

Usually hawaladers come from the East. This time he came from the South. The owner of Bem Brazil in Danbury (CT) was sentenced to 30 months in prison for unlicensed money transfers. The indictment alleged that, in exchange for remitting more than $22,000,000 from Connecticut to Brazil and for guaranteeing the anonymity of both their [...]

The Hindustan Times reported ‘One of the largest Hawala networks in the world unearthed’. We have never seen the Guiness Book of Records entry for Hawaladars but as always the summary of the Hawala network emphasizes how vast they can be and how much funds can be funneled across the world without detection. This week [...]

Three Yemeni immigrants conspired to put more than $100,000 into overseas bank accounts they thought were controlled by Hezbollah, U.S. prosecutors say.  The NY shopkeepers, Alomari, Al Huraibi and Saeed are standing trial on money-laundering charges in U.S. District Court in Rochester, N.Y. The case started by investigating over 300 CTR’s (currency transaction reports) that were [...]

In the war against terrorism we have lost a lot of battles. And won some. From a financial crime (terrorism financing) point of view we have had our successes and failures. We do everything we can to stop money flowing to terror groups. Given reports that Al Qaeda is strapped for cash our measures seem [...]

The BBC reported on rumors that owners of ships themselves are involved in the pirating business. Like the maritime equivalent of the better know plots of the new lover of a woman “kidnapping” her (with her consent) to get the ransom from her current husband. This scenario was designed to run off together in the [...]

European Union monitors were posted at the Egyptian border of Rafah to oversee controls related to smuggling cash by Hamas in 2006. For regular travelers entering Gaza through Rafah, sums over NIS 80,000 shekels ($19,000) must be declared. Diplomats estimated that Hamas, whose government is restricted by U.S. and EU sanctions, has managed to bring [...]

It is a matter of economics; supply and demand. In this case supply, demand and secrecy. Everything that is illegal comes at a premium, also in the financial sector. A lot of people are willing to pay some extra’s to keep their financials hidden. And this demand is met by (part time) shady financial advisors [...]

Adeel Sattar, a 24 year old Pakistani from New York, was sentenced today to 3 years imprisonment for his hawala operations. An informant working for ICE and FBI gave him $ 1.7 m to launder, which he did. By the way, he was explicitly told that the money was in fact drugs money. Adeel transferred [...]