Day: August 24, 2019

24^th August 2019

 

https://ciphertrace.com/q2-2019-cryptocurrency-anti-money-laundering-report/

AUSTRALIA: MAN CHARGED AFTER ALLEGEDLY SMUGGLING 13 KG PRECURSOR CHEMICALS IN HIS LUGGAGE

On 24^th August, Mirage News reported that a 35-year-old Australian man has been arrested and charged at Melbourne International Airport after Australian Border Force (ABF) officers found approximately 13 kg of pseudoephedrine in his luggage.  Pseudoephedrine is a precursor commonly used in the manufacture of methamphetamine.

https://www.miragenews.com/man-charged-after-allegedly-smuggling-13kg-of-precursor-chemicals-in-his-luggage/

INDIA: 820 KG SMUGGLED SEA CUCUMBERS HEADING TO SRI LANKA SEIZED

The Weather Channel on 23^rd August reported that, more than 800 kg of live sea cucumbers, packed in 69 jute bags and which were meant to be smuggled to Sri Lanka, have been seized by Indian customs officials.  Much of the sea cucumbers smuggled out of Tamil Nadu go to Sri Lanka and other SE Asian countries, where they are consumed as food and used to prepare medicines.  Sea cucumbers are categorised an endangered species and their harvest is banned under the Wildlife Protection Act in India.

https://weather.com/en-IN/india/news/news/2019-08-23-sea-cucumber-gulf-of-mannar-illegal-smuggling

AUSTRALIA BUSTS E-SPORTS FIXERS AND RUSSIA WANTS E-SPORTS BAN

On 23^rd August, Calvin Ayre reported that –

Australia has busted an eSports match-fixing ring: with 6 men suspected of arranging the outcome of a Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament; and

Russian legislators want to ban all eSports betting in Russia: the current law prohibits Russian bookmakers from taking bets on competitions involving underage athletes but some deputies in the Duma want to insert the phrase “and computer sports competitions” into the list of prohibited markets.

https://calvinayre.com/2019/08/23/business/australia-esports-fixers-russia-betting-ban/

https://www.rferl.org/a/remittances-to-ukraine-where-do-they-come-from-/30125549.html

TAIWAN AND PORTUGAL CO-OPERATE TO BUST CROSS-BORDER FRAUD RING

On 24^th August, Focus Taiwan reported that the Taiwanese Criminal Investigation Bureau said it has busted a cross-border fraud ring run by Taiwanese nationals in a joint operation carried out with authorities in Portugal.  Portuguese police arrested 19 Taiwanese who were allegedly running a scam operation in the Portuguese town of Cascais outside of Lisbon, and allegedly posed as police officers to scam their victims in China by tricking them into transferring money into designated accounts.

http://focustaiwan.tw/news/asoc/201908240009.aspx

IRAN ANNOUNCES ‘SANCTIONS’ AGAINST WASHINGTON-BASED THINK TANK

On 24^th August, Rferl reported that Iran’s Foreign Ministry says it has imposed sanctions on the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies and its CEO – saying the organisation has promoted sanctions and “economic terrorism” against Iran.

https://www.rferl.org/a/30127178.html

US MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO RUNNING $25 MILLION BITCOIN LAUNDERING SCHEME

Coin Telegraph on 24^th August reported that a Los Angeles man, Kunal Kalra, 25, pleaded guilty to running a $25 million Bitcoin money laundering scheme and sale of methamphetamine.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-man-pleads-guilty-to-running-25-million-bitcoin-laundering-scheme

http://www.thecybersecurityhub.com/

 

This blog is primarily for my own use, to keep informed and up to date.  However, if you would like to say thank you (and perhaps help me get a new, better laptop when I am away…) you can “buy me a coffee” at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-pirate-problem

 

On 24^th August, the Times of Malta reported that Ta’ Xbiex Global Gaming – a Swedish company established on the island in 2014 – had laid off half its employees.  This followed the revocation by the Swedish authorities of an online gambling licence over alleged “serious deficiencies” in business practices, including failings related to responsible gambling and AML measures.

https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/anti-money-laundering-failings-cost-firm-50-jobs.730489

This blog is primarily for my own use, to keep informed and up to date.  However, if you would like to say thank you (and perhaps help me get a new, better laptop when I am away…) you can “buy me a coffee” at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y

On 23^rd August, Lloyds List reported that several P&I clubs say cover for any tanker found to be involved in sanctions-busting activity will be automatically invalidated.  The article says that marine insurers in Europe, the US and UK are providing cover for a group of 21 tankers and gas carriers tracked shipping Iranian cargoes to China, Syria, Singapore and other destinations in past months, in breach of unilateral US sanctions.  There is no suggestion the P+I clubs have engaged in any illegal activity.  The ships include 8 very large crude carriers, 4 liquefied petroleum gas carriers, as well as a number of aframax and suezmax tankers, mostly flagged with Panama.   They are included in a group of 91 tankers tracked using Lloyd’s List Intelligence data that have engaged in evasive patterns of behaviour consistent with under-the-radar shipments or storage of Iranian crude or gas, which includes 48 National Iranian Tanker Co-owned tankers already sanctioned by the US.

https://lloydslist.maritimeintelligence.informa.com/LL1128907/PI-clubs-warned-over-vessels-bypassing-sanctions-on-Iran

This blog is primarily for my own use, to keep informed and up to date. However, if you would like to say thank you (and perhaps help me get a new, better laptop when I am away…) you can “buy me a coffee” at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y

On 23^rd August, the Guardian carried an article saying that an Australian multinational (Quantum Fertiliser being a subsidiary of ASX-listed company Incitec Pivot) at the centre of an Iran sanctions scandal has offloaded a $15 million shipment of Iranian fertiliser it says it was duped into taking, and is reviewing its operations to avoid a repeat.  Quantum Fertiliser said it was deceived by its supplier about the origin of the product, and quickly moved to offload it, saying that its supplier had offloaded the cargo at a port in Yantai, in China’s Shandong province.  The Guardian reported that internal documents suggest the company knew that the cargo being loaded on to its ship had just been offloaded from another ship, the CS Future, and separate records obtained by the Guardian show that ship had sailed from Iran’s Bandar Abbas port on 1^st July.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/aug/24/iran-sanctions-scandal-australian-company-offloads-15m-cargo-it-says-it-was-duped-into-carrying

This blog is primarily for my own use, to keep informed and up to date. However, if you would like to say thank you (and perhaps help me get a new, better laptop when I am away…) you can “buy me a coffee” at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/KoIvM842y