INSIGHT: The key AML lessons for banks from FinCEN’s latest alert on Hizballah

Regulatory Watch News

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  Georgia Woman Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for $30M COVID-19 Unemployment Fraud Scheme and Firearms Charge

  US Department of Justice

  October 25, 2024

  A Georgia woman was sentenced yesterday for her role in a scheme to defraud the Georgia Department of Labor (GaDOL) out of tens of millions of dollars in benefits meant to assist unemployed individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tyshion Nautese Hicks, 32, of Vienna, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined at a later date. Hicks’ total sentence includes a penalty of three consecutive years in prison, imposed yesterday in relation to a separate charge of illegal possession of a machine gun prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

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  Romania: The NAFS Anti-Fraud Communication Network decided to set up a communication plan to prevent fraud with European funds

  OLAF

  October 25, 2024

  The Fight Against Fraud Department - DLAF coordinated the second meeting of the NAFS Anti-Fraud Communication Network, held virtually on 22 October. DLAF opened the discussions on the establishment of a joint Communication Plan, which will create an integrated communication of all the member institutions of NAFS Anti-Fraud Communication Network. The implementation of the Communication Plan is occasioned by the adoption, in December 2023, of the „National Anti-Fraud Strategy for the protection of the Financial Interests of the European Union in Romania 2023-2027” (NAFS), which establishes that one of the main objectives is the prevention of fraud with European funds.

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  Italy: EPPO uncovers Chinese underground banking network suspected of €113 million VAT fraud

  European Public Prosecutor's Office

  October 25, 2024

  (Luxembourg, 25 October 2024) – A coordinated sting by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bologna and Milan (Italy) today dismantled a criminal gang, alleged to have evaded the payment of €113 million in VAT, while using a Chinese underground banking network for money laundering.   Searches were carried out today in 20 cities in the regions of Marche, Emilia Romagna, Puglia, Veneto, Toscana, Lombardia, Abruzzo, Campania, Piemonte and Lazio, in Italy.