Reported by Stanley Foodman On February 2024, the U.S. Treasury released the 2024 National Money Laundering Risk Assessment (NMLRA)which examines the current money laundering environment and identifies the ways in which criminals and other actors seek to launder funds. The Assessment aims to: inform the understanding of illicit finance risk by governmental and private sector actors, […]
Reported by Isabel Keane California mom-of-three has been accused of masterminding an organized crime ring that stole nearly $8 million worth of makeup from stores like Ulta, T.J. Maxx and Walgreens — and then re-sold it online to churn a profit. Michelle Mack, 53, ran the sprawling enterprise from her $2.75 million, 4,500-square-foot mansion in […]
Reported by ANDY GREENBERG In his years as a US federal agent, Tigran Gambaryan helped to lead landmark investigations that took down cryptocurrency thieves and money launderers, dark-web drug dealers, and even crypto-funded child exploitation networks. Now, in his post-government role at the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, he has become the target himself of a very […]
Reported by Michael Katz The “shadow” CEO of a New Jersey real estate investment firm has pleaded guilty to defrauding more than 2,000 investors of more than $650 million through a Ponzi scheme while also conspiring to evade tens of millions of dollars in taxes. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey […]
Reported by HENRY POPE While synthetic opioids claim tens of thousands of American lives every year, illicit fentanyl and money laundering converge in a shadowy underworld that thrives thanks to enablers exploiting loopholes in U.S. anti-money laundering laws not seen elsewhere in the West. Transnational organized crime figures launder the blood money through professionals exploiting […]
Reported by Naharnet Newsdesk A top U.S. Treasury official visiting Beirut this week pressed Lebanese authorities to prevent funds from being funneled to Hamas by way of Lebanon, officials said. Jesse Baker, deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for Asia and the Middle East in the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes, met with […]
Reported by Tara Siegel Bernard Social Security-related scams, overall, are pervasive — fraudsters pose as employees to try to extract both money and valuable identifying details from people in a variety of evolving schemes. But this particular fraud — where criminals use stolen personal information to break into online Social Security accounts or create new ones, […]
Here’s a recent video from the most expensive supermarket in Russia where Sanctions have no impact courtesy of Thomas Moore (via @tomfromtx of TikTok). In this store, you will find Coca-Cola, Fanta, American candies, Swiss chocolates, and every beer from the European Union. No rebranding was made to sell these goods in Russia.
Reported by Olivia Dakeyne, Associate Director of Insight, Themis According to Global Canopy, US$6.1 trillion in funding was provided to the 350 companies with the greatest risk exposures to tropical deforestation by some 150 financial institutions in 2023. This is bad news for the financial sector—and the world at large—since deforestation is responsible for a […]
Reported by Matthew Erskine Many families have legacy family real estate – a primary residence, a vacation home or a condominium in Florida. Often, these properties are passed down from one generation to another by gifts in trusts or other entities, either during the owner’s lifetime or at their death. Now, those transfers may trigger […]
Financial Crime News Briefs 