COLUMN: Why we must up our game and build a ‘stand alone’ money laundering strategy to fight organized crime and the toxic effects of Russian dirty money

Regulatory Watch News

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  U.S. Attorney Announces Cocaine Importation Charges Against Chief Superintendent Of Royal Bahamas Police Force And Other Bahamian Officials

  United States Attorney Office -Southern District of New York

  November 27, 2024

  Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Anne Milgram, the Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging 13 defendants with cocaine importation and related weapons offenses in connection with their participation in a massive cocaine importation conspiracy enabled by corrupt Bahamian government officials, including high-ranking members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force (“RBPF”). ELVIS NATHANIEL CURTIS, an RBPF Chief Superintendent, and DARRIN ALEXANDER ROKER, a Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (“RBDF”), were arrested on Monday in Florida and had their initial appearances yesterday afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.  LORIELMO STEELE-POMARE, a/k/a “Steele” and WILLIAM SIMEON, a/k/a “Harvey Smith,” a/k/a “William Jacques,” a/k/a “Romeo Russell,” a/k/a “Dario Rolle,” were arrested overseas on Monday.  LUIS FERNANDO OROZCO-TORO was arrested overseas yesterday.  The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Gregory H. Woods.

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  Treasury Targets Maduro-aligned Officials Leading Post-Election Crackdown in Venezuela

  OFAC

  November 27, 2024

  WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning 21 security and cabinet-level officials aligned with Nicolas Maduro. These individuals are sanctioned pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13692, as amended, for being current or former officials of the Government of Venezuela. They have supported and carried out Maduro’s orders to repress civil society in his efforts to fraudulently declare himself the winner of Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election, thus ignoring the will of the overwhelming majority of Venezuelan voters who elected Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as their next president.

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  INTERPOL financial crime operation makes record 5,500 arrests, seizures worth over USD 400 million

  Interpol

  November 27, 2024

  LYON, France – A global operation involving law enforcement from 40 countries, territories and regions has ended with the arrest of over 5,500 financial crime suspects and the seizure of more than USD 400 million in virtual assets and government-backed currencies. The five-month Operation HAECHI V (July - November 2024) targeted seven types of cyber-enabled frauds: voice phishing, romance scams, online sextortion, investment fraud, illegal online gambling, business email compromise fraud and e-commerce fraud. As part of the operation, Korean authorities, in tandem with authorities in Beijing successfully dismantled a sprawling voice phishing syndicate responsible for financial losses totaling 1,511 billion KRW (USD 1.1 billion) and affecting over 1,900 victims. The organization’s sophisticated modus operandi included masquerading as law enforcement officials and using counterfeit identification. The operation led to the arrest of at least 27 members of the organized criminal group, with 19 individuals subsequently indicted.