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Regulatory Watch News

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  FinCEN Issues Spanish Translation of Notice on Timeshare Fraud Associated with Mexico-Based Transnational Criminal Organizations

  FinCEN

  October 18, 2024

  Today, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Spanish translation of its July 16, 2024 Notice to financial institutions on the methodologies, financial typologies, and red flag indicators associated with timeshare fraud orchestrated by Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). Mexico-based TCOs such as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) are increasingly targeting U.S. owners of timeshares in Mexico through complex and often yearslong telemarketing, impersonation, and advance fee schemes. They use the illicit proceeds to diversify their revenue streams and finance other criminal activities, including the manufacturing and trafficking of illicit fentanyl and other synthetic drugs into the United States. The Notice was issued jointly with Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and published concurrently with an OFAC sanctions action against Mexican accountants and companies for their role in facilitating timeshare fraud on behalf of CJNG. Financial institutions with questions about the content of the joint Notice should contact FinCEN’s Regulatory Support Section at frc@fincen.gov.

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  Web of crime exposed: 5,100 arrests in illegal football gambling crackdown

  Interpol

  October 18, 2024

  Illegal gambling fuels human trafficking, money laundering and fraud

  LYON, France – In a massive international operation targeting illegal football gambling and its associated criminal activity, authorities made over 5,100 arrests and recovered more than USD 59 million in illicit proceeds. The operation, code-named SOGA X and conducted between June and July 2024, was a collaborative effort involving INTERPOL and 28 countries and territories. It was designed to tackle illegal online football gambling during the UEFA 2024 European Football Championship, which was predicted to generate a surge in betting turnover, and lucrative profits for criminal organizations. The illegal gambling market is worth a staggering USD 1.7 trillion globally, according to research by the Asian Racing Federation, and is closely tied to other criminal enterprises. Beyond shutting down tens of thousands of illegal websites, SOGA X investigations also led to the rescue of trafficked workers and the exposure of money laundering syndicates

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  AFP launches new International Strategy

  Australia Federal Police

  October 18, 2024

  The AFP today launched its new International Strategy, Towards 2030 to set out a road map for how the organisation’s overseas activities will help protect Australians into the next decade. The AFP currently has more than 200 people based in 34 countries globally operating in a complex, volatile and technology-driven world to combat criminal threats that endanger the safety of communities in Australia and throughout the world.