Two charged in US for money laundering and bribery in Ecuador pension fund fraud case; corrupt profits estimated to have climbed beyond $65M

Regulatory Watch News

• 

  Ex-Banker Pleads Guilty in $16M International Bribery and Money Laundering Scheme Involving Former Comptroller General of Ecuador

  US Department of Justice

  November 13, 2024

  A Miami man pleaded guilty yesterday for his role in a multimillion-dollar international bribery and money laundering scheme. According to court documents, John Christopher Polit, 43, a former banker, laundered the bribe proceeds paid for the benefit of his father, Carlos Ramon Polit Faggioni, the former Comptroller General of Ecuador, through the U.S. financial system and into various investments in South Florida. From approximately 2010 to 2015, Carlos Polit solicited and received bribe payments from Odebrecht S.A., the Brazil-based construction conglomerate, in exchange for using his official position to remove fines and not impose fines in order to benefit Odebrecht and its business in Ecuador.

• 

  FinCEN Issues Alert on Fraud Schemes Involving Deepfake Media Targeting Financial Institutions

  FinCEN

  November 13, 2024

  WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued an alert to help financial institutions identify fraud schemes associated with the use of deepfake media created with generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools. The alert explains typologies associated with these schemes, provides red flag indicators to assist with identifying and reporting related suspicious activity, and reminds financial institutions of their reporting requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act. “While GenAI holds tremendous potential as a new technology, bad actors are seeking to exploit it to defraud American businesses and consumers, to include financial institutions and their customers,” said Director Andrea Gacki. “Vigilance by financial institutions to the use of deepfakes, and reporting of related suspicious activity, will help safeguard the U.S. financial system and protect innocent Americans from the abuse of these tools.”

• 

  Six arrested after multi-million pound Birmingham Airport drug seizure

  National Crime Agency

  November 13, 2024

    Six people have been arrested and charged following a major drug seizure at Birmingham International Airport. National Crime Agency officers made the arrests on Monday 11 November, seizing suitcases containing around 180 kilos of cocaine. The six, two men and three women from Bradford, West Yorkshire, and a man from Halesowen in the West Midlands, were questioned by NCA investigators before being charged with conspiring to import class A drugs late yesterday.