NEWS: Europol warns criminals bribing bankers to facilitate money laundering

Regulatory Watch News

• 

  Austria – Publication of the 4th Round 3rd Interim Compliance Report and 5th Round 2nd Compliance Report

  GRECO

  March 26, 2025

  The Council of Europe Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) today published two compliance reports on Austria. The Third Interim Compliance Report assesses progress made in implementing recommendations issued to the country in the Fourth Evaluation Round Report in 2017 on preventing corruption in respect of members of parliament, judges and prosecutors. GRECO concludes that Austria must substantially step up its response, as the vast majority of recommendations remain partly implemented or not implemented in this Compliance Report. Only three out of nineteen recommendations have been dealt with in a satisfactory manner. Of the outstanding sixteen recommendations, eleven remain partly implemented and five remain not implemented.

• 

  12 members of an Irish high-risk criminal network arrested

  Europol

  March 26, 2025

  This week, Irish and Spanish law enforcement authorities took decisive action against one of Ireland’s high-risk criminal networks. In a coordinated series of raids in both countries, An Garda Síochána and Guardia Civil officers arrested 12 suspects (6 in Ireland and 6 in Spain). The criminals are suspected of involvement in large-scale drug trafficking, mainly by transporting drugs hidden in vehicles from Spain to Ireland.Law enforcement uncovered the network’s activities, including drug-related crimes such as money laundering, when it dismantled the Ghost encrypted communication platform in September 2024. In an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to evade detection, the criminals had relied on sophisticated encrypted communications and had fragmented their exchanges across multiple platforms.

• 

  Fraudulent websites and internet banking login screens related to The Bank of East Asia, Limited

  HKMA

  March 26, 2025

  The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by The Bank of East Asia, Limited relating to fraudulent websites and internet banking login screens, which have been reported to the HKMA.  A hyperlink to the press release is available on the HKMA website.