Tag: Money Laundering

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Actress Accused of Laundering El Chapo’s Cash – Medium

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Did Kate del Castillo Go Gangster to Launch Tequila Brand?

Kicking off the New Year actor Sean Penn, best known for his roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Milk and Dead Man Walking, published a story in Rolling Stone that featured an interview he conducted with the infamous Mexican drug lord, El Chapo, entitled El Chapo Speaks. The story quickly went viral, mostly because of the fact that El Chapo was on the run from authorities at the time and considered ‘the most wanted man in the world’, but also because he has become almost a mythical figure in a society obsessed by fame, and was interviewed by someone almost as famous.

As a result, Sean Penn story nearly broke the Internet. With words.

Immediately questions were raised about how Penn could arrange a meeting that the authorities could not, even though it was revealed in the story that Mexican actress Kate del Castillo orchestrated it. Who is del Castillo? There are rumors that she is El Chapo’s mistress. . . Click here to read the rest of the article on Medium.com.

AML Scandals that Flew Under the Radar in ’15 – American Banker’s BankThink Blog

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Screen Shot 2016-06-20 at 3.03.02 PMIn addition to anti-money-laundering scandals involving global banks and worldwide organizations such as FIFA that grabbed headlines last year, there were plenty of damaging laundering convictions and accusations in 2015 that went unnoticed but still took a heavy toll on midlevel banks.

Money laundering is a crime that occurs more often than the general public realizes, and in most sectors of our economy. In the past year alone, charity officials, a mortuary owner, a church director and a doctor providing chemo treatments were at the center of appalling cases you probably never heard about.

1. Tayfun Karauzum, of Newport Beach, Calif., was sentenced to five years in prison for distributing $1 million to $2.5 million of Potion 9, which contained a solvent that metabolizes in the body to become gamma-Hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, a known date-rape drug. He then laundered the proceeds.

2. Charles and Diana Muir were sentenced to 48 and six months in prison, respectively, and forced to return the $1.1 million they stole from a 140-year-old college scholarship charity in Louisville, Ky. — the Woodcock Foundation — that was run by Charles Muir. The couple then laundered the proceeds through Diana Muir’s dental business.

To view the rest of the top 10 most unheralded, yet just as disturbing money laundering stories from 2015 please click here.

American banks: all aboard Bitcoin Express? – Medium

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U.S. applying anti-money laundering rules to digital currencies

Digitally encrypted cryptocurrencies are hot, particularly as consumer confidence in the current global money infrastructure wanes. So what exactly is a cryptocurrency? The most visible example, Bitcoin bypasses traditional banking systems and operates as an alternative to cash. It’s decentralized, virtual and somewhat anonymous, and was originally developed to handle transactions over the Internet. The currency units consist of a series of numbers that can be traded between accounts, or “wallets,” for services or goods; when it launched in 2009, Bitcoin transactions happened without any government interference (or oversight).

Today, Bitcoin’s not just popular with the average consumer; organized crime and the criminal element have figured out how to use it to efficiently launder money, just as they did with the original cryptocurrency, eGold. In fact, I recently wrote about a money laundering case involving Bitcoin and two secret servicemen who attempted to launder a considerable amount of Bitcoin stolen from Silk Road. For this reason, the U.S. is now applying the anti-money laundering (AML) rules initially written to govern traditional financial organizations to all digital cash companies.

Perhaps even more interesting is that. . . Click here to read the rest of this article on Medium.com.

Money laundering uptick in 2016? Magic 8 Ball says, ‘signs point to yes.’ – Medium

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When I was a kid, the Magic 8 Ball was a quirky toy used to tell fortunes or predict the future. The answers to yes-no questions were often vague enough to be accurate, such as “Ask Again Later” and “Don’t Count on It.” As we kick-off 2016, it might be fun to ask the Magic 8 Ball what we can expect to see as far as financial institutions and risk strategies go for coping with money laundering in the coming months.

Most Likely. We all know that we can expect to see an uptick in attempts to launder money, despite the tightened scrutiny by banks. In fact, as 2015 drew to a close, a man in Minnesota was being charged with conspiring to launder more than $2 million in a penny stock fraud scheme. It’s probably just human nature: where there are laws, there will always be people who try to figure out how to avoid them for personal gain.

Signs Point to Yes. . . Click here to read the rest of this prediction article. 

A place for your gold or a mini $ laundromat? – Medium

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5 ways to identify suspicious activity with safe deposit boxes

Swiss banks are synonymous with anonymity. But the threats of money laundering and terrorist financing are enough to force some banking changes — particularly when it comes to safe deposit boxes.

Recently, India and Switzerland have been working closely together to identify Indians who have potentially been stashing illicit money in Swiss safe deposit boxes. Switzerland has already disclosed account information at the request of the Indian government, an action that would not have taken place 20 years ago. But the Swiss government also issued assurances that its safe deposit box regulations are sufficient to deal with increased money laundering risks at this time.

Just how popular are safe deposit boxes today? Click here to read the rest of this story. . .

Silk Road, Bitcoin and the Secret Servicemen – Medium

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Two Secret Service agents, both of whom were members of the Baltimore Silk Road Task Force charged with breaking Silk Road’s ring of illegal online activity (primarily drug sales), have pled guilty to money laundering and other charges. Shaun Bridges was sentenced on December 7 to 71 months behind bars, and ordered to forfeit $651,000 of the $820,000 he reportedly stole and laundered. Bridges’ colleague, Carl Force, was convicted of a similar crime last October, sentenced to six and a half years in prison and ordered to pay $340,000 in compensation.

Two members of a task force ordered to bring down an online black market, become criminals themselves; how does this happen? To read the rest of this story, please click here.

Bank Fraud: More Common Than You Think – Medium

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When you think of financial fraud, you might envision money laundering activities conducted by members of organized crime syndicates. Or you might think of how a stolen identity helped thieves take your money or leverage your credit cards. In truth, the laws intended to help financial institutions thwart financial fraud are broad enough to cover these acts and much more involving everyday criminals — some who are not so smart, and some who are so sophisticated that it takes time to bring them down.

Last month, a used car dealer in Florida pled guilty to bank fraud for a check kiting scheme that defrauded an unnamed financial institution of over $1 million. The crime happened in 2011, and I’m willing to bet that the bank’s Know Your Customer (KYC) policies and its internal processes for approving check drafts against uncollected funds have since been tightened.

Also this past month, a woman who embezzled money in 2014 from her employer was convicted. . . to read the rest of the article, please click here.

Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive Underway in EU – Medium

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5 things you need to know about the fourth anti-money laundering directive underway in the European Union.

It isn’t always easy to get multiple stakeholders to agree to change. But after much discussion (and some bickering), the European Union finally passed the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive earlier this year. Financial institutions operating in an EU member state have until 2017 to meet the new reporting and disclosure requirements aimed at disrupting terrorist financing, corruption and money laundering. And in just a few months, financial institutions need new account onboarding procedures put into place no later than January 1, 2016.

In a nutshell, here’s what you need to know:

  • The entire gambling spectrum is now subject to these regulations, not just casinos.
  • Enhanced customer due diligence is required.
  • The cash payment threshold was lowered to €7500.
  • Click here to read the rest of this post on Medium.com.

Financial Risk Management is a Global Issue – Medium

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The story unfolding in Poland, with politicians running electoral campaigns based on promises to curb bank profits, could have a profound effect on other countries, depending on the outcome.

We casually talk about the global economy, and how one venture outside of our borders can have a dramatic effect on our financial health. The story began during the financial crisis of 2008, when Polish banks were largely insulated from the global recession due to their strong fiscal management policies and the financial management tools offered to customers. At that time, many Poles took advantage of the Polish currency’s strength (zloty) against the Swiss franc and financed mortgages in the Swiss currency Today, that balance is reversed; the Swiss central bank abandoned caps on the franc’s value earlier this year. As a result, the franc became stronger, with the move affecting more than half a million Poles who now find themselves paying much more for their mortgages. To read the rest of this article on Medium.com, please click here.

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