Tweet Kim Rothstein, the so-called “free-spending” wife of Scott Rothstein, was sentenced to 18 months in jail yesterday for plotting to hide over $1 million worth of jewelry to avoid it being seized as proceeds of crime. Mr. Rothstein is a former lawyer incarcerated for running a $1.4 billion Ponzi scheme through the trust accounts […]
Tweet Organized Crime & Private ATMs According to a report by the RCMP reported by Radio-Canada, organized crime in Canada is using private ATMs to launder proceeds of crime. The RCMP estimates that at least $315 million is laundered each year by private ATMs and some of those are connected to the Hells Angels in […]
Tweet Anti-Tax Evasion Agreement The U.S. Department of Justice and the Swiss Federal Department of Finance have entered into an agreement that essentially ends Swiss bank secrecy and the renown of Switzerland as a tax haven. The Agreement: Applies not just to American taxpayers but also to foreigners and foreign entities who maintain Swiss bank accounts […]
Tweet Tax Evasion Plea Edgar Paltzer, a lawyer called to the bar in Switzerland and the U.S. with the Zurich firm of Niederer, Kraft and Frey, pleaded guilty today in New York to conspiracy to evade taxes and faces up to five years in prison. According to Mr. Paltzer’s indictment, the bank with whom he […]
Tweet HSBC Cancels Bank Accounts of Consulates HSBC has given notice to several consulates and the Vatican that it is closing their accounts within 60 days. No reason has been officially cited for the cancellation of the client bank agreements but it is likely as a result of the exposure such accounts hold for financial […]
Tweet Singapore’s Monetary Authority of Singapore has issued a number of fines, warnings, reprimands and compliance orders to 69 financial institutions for multiple failures to comply with anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing requirements. The move is Singapore’s effort to appear to be strengthening its anti-money laundering laws to preserve its reputation as the hub […]
Tweet The Basel Institute on Governance has published an interesting compilation of its view of how countries rank as money laundering and terrorist financing jurisdictions of risk. To the extent the ranking may be accurate, it may be obviously helpful to businesses engaged in international trade and commerce and to agencies that are required to […]
Tweet The New York Court of Appeals ruled this week that the use of a New York bank account by a listed entity (an entity identified as a terrorist one) is sufficient to establish jurisdiction for American victims of the listed entity’s terrorist activities to claim compensation. The bank in question is a Beirut bank […]
Tweet The cyber crime problem As more consumers use the Internet to complete financial transactions, the threat of various forms of cyber crime is likewise increasing. Those forms include identity theft, bank account hijacks, ATM skimming, POS data thefts, and credit/debit card account theft. Victims of financial cyber crime are often financially wiped out and […]
Tweet According to Bloomberg News, the AG for Switzerland opened a criminal probe of UBS AG on August 29 as a result of a complaint filed by Bruno Manser Fund, a rain-forest advocacy group, that alleged that UBS AG allowed its bank to be used to launder proceeds of crime from Musa Aman, Chief Minister […]