How the FinCEN papers provide an opportunity to improve the SAR regimes

On 21 September, 5 St Andrews Hill Chambers in London published an article saying that the headlines will obviously focus on the amount of money involved and the details of particular prominent individuals, and that criticism is already being levelled at the banks for the way in which they have permitted these transactions to have taken place. It looks at problems with the SAR regimes, citing comments made by the Law Commission in the UK.  The article concludes that it is the lack of resources that prevents law enforcement from dealing with the global issue that money laundering represents.

https://www.5sah.co.uk/news-and-events/articles/2020-09-21/how-the-fincen-papers-provide-an-opportunity-to-improve-the-suspicious-activity-report-sars-regime

FinCEN Files: The art of evading sanctions

On 24 September, an article from Deutsche Welle reported that sanctions are popular means to frighten despots and enforce national interests – but the FinCEN files show that sanctions can be circumvented, often with the help of banks.

https://www.dw.com/en/fincen-files-the-art-of-evading-sanctions/a-55040214

One fix to the deluge of SAR

American Banker on 24 September suggests ending the US requirement to file SAR about otherwise legal (under state laws) cannabis businesses.  The opinion piece says that filing SAR on marijuana-related businesses is a relic of the “Reefer Madness” mentality whose time has long since expired.

https://www.americanbanker.com/opinion/one-fix-to-the-deluge-of-suspicious-activity-reports

The FinCEN Files – live aggregated news

The FinCEN Files – Live Aggregated News

FinCEN leak sheds light on the hidden money flows of Putin’s Russia

https://www.rferl.org/a/major-questions-fincen-leak-sheds-light-on-the-hidden-money-flows-of-putin-s-russia/30855925.html

Suspicious $462 million transferred from Citi Bank to Stanbic Bank Zambia

On 24 September, the Lusaka Times reported on the biggest transaction recorded in Zambia under the suspicious files.

Suspicious US$462 million was transferred from Citi Bank to Stanbic Bank Zambia

FinCEN Files investigations from across Asia

https://www.icij.org/investigations/fincen-files/fincen-files-investigations-from-across-asia/

FinCEN Files: the documents

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/johntemplon/fincen-files-the-documents

Blame politicians, not banks, for the FinCEN mess

An article from Coda sets out to make an make an unfashionable observation – the leaks are evidence the banks were doing what we ask of them.  Fury should not be directed at them, but at the idiocy of the system they are operating within and ultimately, therefore, the blame lies with the politicians.

Blame politicians, not banks, for the FinCEN mess

On 24 September, the Guardian in Australia reported that the Australian Tax Office claims it has been ripped off by as much as hundreds of millions of dollars under mass tax evasion schemes allegedly run by professional advisers.  The article claims that Australia is in the grip of a new wave of tax evasion and money laundering allegedly orchestrated by unscrupulous firms of professional advisers, including accountants.  The schemes involve “phoenixing” – the art of liquidating a company and allowing the directors to rise from the ashes in a new entity, free of debts – and prior to the Covid-19 crisis, a number of them were being intensively targeted by the ATO.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/sep/25/phoenixing-how-unscrupulous-dealers-rise-debt-free-from-the-ashes-of-failed-companies

On 24 September, OFAC announced the designation of 2 Iranian judges and a branch of the Revolutionary Court and 3 prisons, as well as amending once more the entry relating to President Maduro of Venezuela.

https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-sanctions/recent-actions/20200924_33

On 23 September, Cooling Post reported that Customs officers have seized nearly 4 tonnes of illegal refrigerant, including the banned HCFC R22, at the port of Livorno.  The shipment is said to have comprised 300 illegal non-refillable cylinders of Chinese origin. 

Italian customs seize 3.7 tonnes of illegal refrigerant

On 24 September, Reuters reported that prosecutors have launched an attempt to confiscate £30.8 million from a London lawyer who assisted a Nigerian politician, James Ibori, in looting and laundering funds from the oil state he governed.  Bhadresh Gohil was convicted in 2010 of 13 counts of money-laundering and other offences and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-nigeria-corruption/uk-seeks-to-seize-39-million-from-lawyer-who-helped-corrupt-nigerian-politician-idUKKCN26F2I9

A news release from the Home Office on 24 September about guidance for employers who, from 1 January will need to have a sponsor licence to hire most workers from outside the UK.  The freedom of movement between the UK and EU will end and the UK will introduce an immigration system that will treat all applicants equally, regardless of where they come from. Anyone one wants to recruit from outside the UK, excluding Irish citizens, will need to apply for permission first.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/recruiting-people-from-outside-the-uk-from-1-january-2021

On 24 September, SBC Americas reported that the founder of online gambling company PokerStars, has been issued with a $300,000 fine and sentenced to ‘time served’ following his initial indictment in 2011 that alleged that he knowingly ran operations in contravention of UIGEA – the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.  He was arrested in June of last year in Switzerland and extradited to the US in January of this year. 

Pokerstars’ Isai Scheinberg avoids prison sentence as judge issues $300,000 fine

On 24 September, the Irish Times reported that the CAB has seized cars worth more than €2 million as part of a continuing operation in counties Clare and Tipperary – as part of an operation that also involves officers from the Economic Crime Bureau attached to West Midlands Police in the UK; and focussed on the assets of an international organised crime group who are suspected of laundering the proceeds of mandate fraud committed in the UK, via a used car outlet in County Tipperary.

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/garda%C3%AD-seize-80-cars-worth-2m-as-part-of-money-laundering-investigation-1.4363605

On 24 September, Insight Crime carried an article saying that a new report claimed that public officials and private individuals close to the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, have been linked to a massive money laundering scheme involving Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA.  It is said to involve Alba Petróleos, a PDVSA subsidiary in El Salvador and part of a massive money laundering scheme carried out in Venezuela, El Salvador, the US and Panama, among other countries. The article claims that Alba Petróleos sent huge sums to bank accounts in Panama, Switzerland, Gibraltar, Luxembourg and Russia, with transactions being passed off as debts acquired by Panamanian companies and corporations based in Miami.

El Salvador’s President Bukele Linked to Venezuelan Money Laundering Scheme: Report

On 24 September, a news release from the Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency (FACT) Coalition said that a new interim report by the UN High-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Agenda (the FACTI Panel) — an international group of former world leaders, central bank heads, business executives, and civil society representatives — exposes major shortcomings and systemic problems in the global framework to combat tax abuse, corruption, and money laundering. The document assesses that money launderers move at least $1.6 trillion, or 2.7% of global GDP, annually. The findings further reveal at least $7 trillion in private wealth — a staggering 10% of global GDP — is held offshore, while international governments lose an additional $500 billion annually from multinational profit-shifting plans. The report demonstrates how these harmful financial practices in particular disadvantage developing countries.

https://thefactcoalition.org/un-panel-says-major-reforms-needed-to-boost-fight-against-illicit-finance/