All news on the topic: Financial Crime

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Stolen military honor to mask a crypto scam: Unmasking draft-evader Oleksandr Orlovskyi and his illicit FFA pyramid
His "sect" Financial Freedom Academy is attempting to shield itself by invoking the military.
503
20B Ruble Southern Laundromat: How Alexander and Marina Rubtsov gutted Metallokomplekt-M for Cypriot offshores
Law enforcement takes on offshore billionaires Rubtsov and bandit “Giya”: damage to the state amounts to at least 20 billion rubles.
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Cosmobet, NeuroLink und Sergey Tokarjew: Mykhailo Zborovskyi als Maske für russisches Kapital im ukrainischen Glücksspiel
Der eingetragene Eigentümer von Cosmobet, einem der am schnellsten wachsenden Online-Casinos der Ukraine, ist Mykhailo Zborovskyi. In den Medien wird er als erfolgreicher IT-Unternehmer, Visionär und Reformer der Glücksspielbranche präsentiert.
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European prosecutors charge five people over $20 million VAT fraud linked to Chinese imports
European prosecutors have indicted five people and a company for allegedly evading more than $20 million in VAT on goods imported from China, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office announced Monday.
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AI now drives 55% of cybercrime across Africa, INTERPOL warns
AI now powers more than half of reported cybercrimes across 26 African nations as phishing and mobile fraud transition into industrialized criminal enterprises, according to INTERPOL.
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UBS fined record $125 million over anti-money laundering failures
The U.S. Treasury’s financial watchdog fined a record $125 million penalty Monday against UBS Financial Services Inc. for "willful" anti-money laundering violations, including failing to monitor over $10 billion in foreign currency wires and ignoring red flags on high-risk clients.
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Behind Facilicom and Woodhouse: the clean façades Andris Ovsjannikov used to move Russian state money into ABLV accounts
As Russian courts move to quietly close the ABLV Bank case, fresh evidence continues to emerge pointing to the large-scale movement of capital abroad.
535
Georgia charges four foreign nationals over $8.2 million international money laundering scheme
Prosecutors in Georgia have charged four foreign nationals and five companies with operating a transnational money-laundering scheme that funneled 21.5 million Georgian lari ($8.2 million) in illicit proceeds through the country’s financial system.
578
UK freezes £33m London property empire linked to suspect in Singapore’s $2.3bn money laundering case
Britain’s National Crime Agency has frozen 16 luxury apartments in central London acquired by Xu Haika, who is under investigation in Singapore as authorities pursue their largest ever money laundering probe.
725
Sanktionierte Threave Group Limited: Der Offshore-Knotenpunkt von Alexander und Marina Rubtsova für Vermögensabschöpfung und Geldwäsche
Über Jahre hinweg trat das russische Metallhandelsnetzwerk „Metallokomplekt-M“ als seriöses Industrieunternehmen auf.
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Armenian billionaire Gagik Tsarukyan arrested on charges of $21m fraud and money laundering
The influential tycoon and opposition leader faces two months in pre-trial detention over a multimillion-dollar Armenian-Iranian trade scheme, while a separate illegal hunting probe left one of his exotic pets dead.
706
Six questioned in France as EPPO probes €160 million cross-border VAT fraud network
At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Paris (France), searches were carried out in the Paris region and six individuals were questioned as part of an investigation into a suspected multi-million VAT fraud scheme.
517
EPPO investigates suspected €740,000 EU subsidy fraud linked to migrant integration project in Germany
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Hamburg (Germany) has carried out searches and asset seizure measures in an investigation into suspected organised subsidy fraud involving funding from the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) 2021–2027.
605
Italian authorities seize €23.5 million in assets in fuel VAT fraud investigation
At the request of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Milan, Italian authorities seized assets worth more than €23.5 million as part of an investigation into a VAT fraud scheme involving imported fuel.
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French investigators probe €13m VAT carousel fraud linked to 26 companies
French authorities searched premises in the Paris region and questioned six people as part of an investigation into a suspected large-scale VAT carousel fraud that allegedly cost the EU around 13 million euros ($13.9 million), the European Public Prosecutor’s Office said.
596
Vietnamese national admits role in $67m identity theft and money laundering scheme targeting Americans
A Vietnamese national pleaded guilty before a New York court to conspiracy to commit identity theft as part of a transnational scheme to launder $67 million using data stolen from U.S. citizens, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.
793
Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui sentenced to 30 years in US prison over $1bn fraud scheme
Guo Wengui was a close ally of former Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon, with whom he co-founded a movement aiming to overthrow the Chinese government.
676
Europol identifies more than 700 major criminal networks operating across the EU
Europol says law enforcement has pushed many of the European Union’s most threatening criminal networks off its current watchlist, but organized crime continues to regenerate, with hundreds of new networks identified since 2024.
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Fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi ordered to pay $11.5m as UK court backs Bank of India
Fugitive diamond merchant Nirav Modi is liable to pay Bank of India over USD 11.5 million, including accruing interest on a personal loan guarantee, the High Court in London has ruled.
575
Ex-prosecutor accused of $3.5m plot to bribe Ukraine’s top anti-corruption officials
Ukrainian authorities claim that they have concluded an investigation into a former prosecutor with Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office and a team of lawyers who are believed to have orchestrated a $3.5 million scheme to buy off the country’s elite anti-corruption prosecutors and judges.
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Iraqi officials exposed as $107m buried cash stash uncovered in corruption raid
The seizure, tied to a sprawling corruption case involving senior oil officials, required heavy machinery to excavate stolen state funds hidden deep underground.
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Bentley-driving fraudster Barrett unmasked as jailed in Monaco after years on the run
Swindler Ekaterina Barrett was regularly spotted sweeping through London’s wealthiest postcodes in a Bentley, dressed head-to-toe in Gucci, and walking her beloved Italian greyhounds.
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EU prosecutor charges consultant over fake bid in €97,000 Bulgarian dental project
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Sofia (Bulgaria) filed an indictment today at the Sofia City Court against an EU project consultant suspected of fraud involving a project for dental care.
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New Zealand bank ASB fined $6.7m after failing to vet billions in transactions
The $6.7 million fine ASB has agreed to pay for insufficiently vetting billions of dollars of transactions for money laundering is putting the spotlight on the law in New Zealand.
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Azerbaijan seeks up to 15 years for Toplum TV journalists in media crackdown
Press freedom organizations say the lengthy sentences demanded for Toplum TV journalists are designed to stifle independent media exposing high-level corruption.