Category: EU/Europe

Regulatory Watch News

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  Cases include money laundering, drug trafficking, embezzlement, and tax evasion schemes

  IRS Criminal Investigation

  January 13, 2025

  WASHINGTON — IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) unveiled its top 10 cases of 2024 on Friday. The defendants in these cases committed millions of dollars in fraudulent activity, duped investors into believing they were going to strike it rich and tried to funnel money to terrorist organizations. They represent the most high-profile and impactful cases of the previous year. Leading up to today’s announcement, IRS-CI unveiled two cases per day on its X and LinkedIn accounts from Jan. 6 through Jan. 10. “Each year, I’m amazed with the variety of cases that make our top 10 list,” said IRS-CI Chief Guy Ficco. “Our agents know how to follow the money, and they use their investigative prowess to target criminals who prey on unsuspecting victims, funnel narcotics into the U.S., and steal from others for personal gain.”

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  Anti-money laundering: Estonia makes progress with targeted financial sanctions on terrorism and terrorist financing

  MONEYVAL

  January 13, 2025

  Estonia has improved its efforts towards implementing targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing, concludes MONEYVAL in a new follow-up report. However, further steps are needed for the full or large compliance with the recommendations which Estonian authorities requested for a review.

  Estonia has enlarged the scope of assets subject to freezing as part of targeted financial sanctions related to terrorism and terrorist financing (Recommendation 6). As a result, the country has been re-rated from “partly compliant” to “largely compliant” with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 6.

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  Bulgaria: Four charged with €94.5 million fraud involving railway signalling systems

  European Public Prosecutor's Office

  January 13, 2025

  (Luxembourg, 13 January 2025) – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Sofia (Bulgaria) has brought charges of fraud against four suspects, following an investigation into a project to design and build signalling and telecommunication systems on the Bulgarian rail network.  The project, which concerns the railway section between Plovdiv and Burgas, is worth over €94.5 million (BGN 184 999 094, 97) in EU financing.