Reported by: Martin Byers of Ogier To comply with applicable regulations in the Cayman Islands, anti-money laundering officers appointed by Cayman funds must understand and act in accordance with their duties and responsibilities. The Cayman Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (AMLRs), which apply to funds carrying on relevant financial business in the jurisdiction, set out certain duties […]
Reported by: Sebastian Rotella and Kirsten Berg In 2017, Drug Enforcement Administration agents following the money from cocaine deals in Memphis, Tennessee, identified a mysterious figure in Mexico entrusted by drug lords with their millions: a Chinese American gangster named Xizhi Li. As the agents tracked Li’s activity across the Americas and Asia, they realized […]
Reported by: ZDRAVKO LJUBAS The U.K. branch of the global anti-graft watchdog Transparency International warned on Monday that more than one in ten of all Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) ever registered in Britain bear the “hallmarks of shell companies used for serious financial crimes.” Around 14% of all LLPs formed between 2001 and 2021 have […]
Reported by: BRIAN QUARMBY Announced on Oct. 6, the latest set of EU sanctions on Russia stipulates a full ban on the provision of crypto-asset wallets, accounts and custody services, regardless of the total value of the assets. Following the sanction announcement, Dapper stated that accounts with connections to Russia will no longer be able to sell, purchase […]
Reported by: Daniel Van Boom The Lazarus Group, a hacking outfit associated with North Korea’s government, managed to drain over $600 million in crypto from a blockchain used by NFT game Axie Infinity. North Korean hackers stole $840 million in the first five months of 2022, according to Chainalysis data, over $200 million more than they’d plundered […]
Reported by: Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California Juan Manuel Alvarez-Inzunza, a high-level money launderer for the Sinaloa Cartel, was sentenced to 188 months in prison today for his role in a conspiracy to transfer millions of dollars in drug proceeds out of the United States. According to court records, starting […]
Reported by: Graeme Wood, Glacier Media B.C. real estate brokerage firm LeHomes Realty has been fined $282,397 for not complying with the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. The brokerage is officially known as Pan Pacific Platinum Real Estate Services Inc. and formerly known as New Coast Realty, which has a history […]
Reported by: MarketScreener There has been a sharp increase in those over the age of 40 caught channelling fraudulent funds through their bank account over the last year, according to new data from Lloyds Bank. Known commonly as ‘money mules’, these people use their bank account to receive criminal cash, either intentionally or unintentionally. How […]
Reported by: Jonathan Browning Sigma Broking Ltd. was fined £530,000 ($596,830) for a series of reporting failures, the Financial Conduct Authority said Thursday. The regulator, which has recently prioritized cases of market abuse, said managers acted negligently while compliance and oversight was “unclear and confused.” The privately-owned brokerage missed 97 suspicious transactions or orders that […]
Reported by: TAYLOR LOCKE Criminals have increasingly used decentralized exchanges (DEXs), cross-chain bridges, and coin-swap services for money laundering, a new report by blockchain analysis firm Elliptic shows. Though use of each typically is “overwhelmingly legitimate,” criminals so far have laundered over $4 billion in illicit crypto through the three services since 2020. “This expansion […]
Financial Crime News Briefs 