INSIGHT: Florida’s Axiom Bank hit with AML consent order – here are the key points

Regulatory Watch News

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  Fraudster arrested for money laundering offences via hawala system

  RCMP

  October 18, 2024

  The RCMP Federal Policing Northwest Region's Provincial Financial Crime Team (PFCT) in Edmonton has charged an Airdrie resident with fraud and money laundering-related offences. Between January and July 2023, the accused is alleged to have fraudulently received in excess of $100,000 from domestic and international victims who sent money via e-transfer and wire transfer to purchase goods from online sales platforms. The fraudulent sales included goods such as hay bales, deer antlers, antiseptic cleaning wipes and sea urchins. The accused is also believed to have been running an informal value transfer system, known as hawala, using trade-based money laundering methods that contravene the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act

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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