Reported by James Langton Amid allegations of inadequate anti-money laundering and financial crime controls, the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Metro Bank plc £16.7 million. In a release Monday, the FCA said it sanctioned the bank for allegedly breaching the regulator’s principles by implementing a flawed system that was supposed to automatically monitor […]

Reported by Chris Ozarowski By advertising a get-rich-quick scheme on social media, the scammers were able to convince some users to open Fidelity accounts and give them the log-in details, according to The Wall Street Journal. The scammers then took photos of fake checks and sent whatever money they could to their own accounts. They […]

Reported by Brian-Damien Morgan A Russian-Swedish national has been sentenced to a jail term for the operation of the longest-running Bitcoin money laundering service on the darknet that processed nearly $500m in funds. For more than ten years, Roman Sterlingov’s platform and service were seen as the go-to money laundering service for criminals seeking to “wash” their […]

Reported by Josh DuBose A 49-year-old man who laundered millions of dollars in narcotics-related funds from the U.S. to international drug trafficking organizations and who attempted to steal nearly $200,000 from the Drug Enforcement Administration has been sentenced to more than 7 years in prison, federal officials announced last week.   In a news release, officials […]

Reported by Quinn Patrick, True North Wire Canada’s financial crimes watchdog has flagged thousands of suspected cases of criminal money laundering operations involving legal professionals.  Members within Canada’s law societies hold a unique window into how to aid criminals seeking to launder money gained from their criminal enterprises, according to a special report by Statistics […]

Three men, including an Iranian operative, were charged in a plot to assassinate a U.S. citizen of Iranian descent in New York. Farhad Shakeri, an asset of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), allegedly directed the scheme, using criminal associates Carlisle Rivera and Jonathon Loadholt for surveillance and planning. The IRGC also reportedly tasked Shakeri […]

Reported by AIMEE GABAY A new report by the FACT Coalition found that many investigations into environmental crimes do not follow the money. Of the 230 cases analyzed, 76% involved the use of front and shell companies, likely due to flaws in the anti-money laundering systems of foreign countries, researchers said.  The environmental crimes analyzed occurred between […]

Reported by Chuck Ross A Mississippi district attorney backed by Democratic megadonor George Soros and a Mississippi mayor endorsed by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) have been indicted on federal bribery charges. The Justice Department alleges that Hinds County district attorney Jody Owens and Jackson mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, both Democrats, accepted hundreds of […]

Reported by Aubree B. Jennings Financial crimes spiked in Utah during the first half of the year, costing residents nearly $20 million more than in years prior, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and Financial Fraud Task Force held a conference Wednesday to discuss the state of […]

Reported by Robert Delaney  and Laura Zhou US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has met with China’s deputy central bank governor Xuan Chengneng in Washington this week to discuss coordination on financial market monitoring and money laundering. The talks this week marked a continuation of the sixth meeting of a bilateral economic working group and took place on […]