Financial Crime & Money Laundering

Category: Money Laundering

January 9, 2025

Novo Banco Scandal: Fired Risk Boss Sparks Money Laundering Investigation

Portugal's Novo Banco faces a storm as its former Chief Risk Officer, Carlos Brandão, is under investigation for alleged money laundering, tax fraud, and forgery. Despite the scandal, CEO Mark Bourke insists the bank’s operations remain unaffected and continues to push towards its strategic goals, including a potential IPO.

January 7, 2025

DOJ Cracks Down on Billion-Dollar Fraud: Miles Guo’s Associate Yvette Wang Sentenced to 10 Years

Yvette Wang, a close associate of exiled Chinese tycoon Ho Wan Kwok a/k/a Miles Guo, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for her role in a staggering $1 billion fraud scheme. Acting as Guo’s “Chief of Staff,” Wang helped mastermind a sprawling conspiracy that defrauded thousands of investors through false promises and luxury-laden embezzlement.

January 4, 2025

Singapore’s Billion-Dollar Money Laundering Case: A Global Criminal Network Exposed!

In November 2024, Singapore authorities uncovered one of the largest money laundering operations in the country's history, involving a sophisticated criminal network with international connections. The case highlights the evolving nature of financial crimes and the challenges faced by law enforcement agencies in combating global money laundering schemes.

Money Laundering

January 4, 2025

The Canvas of Crime: How Luxury Goods and Art Fuel a Billion-Dollar Money Laundering Epidemic!

Recent developments in money laundering via luxury items and works of art highlight the ongoing challenges faced by law enforcement and regulatory bodies. In July 2024, the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) issued an "Amber Alert" to the art sector, warning of potential sanctions evasion and money laundering through high-value art and luxury items stored in warehouses and freeports.

January 4, 2025

TikTok Under Fire: New Court Documents Reveal Exploitation and Money Laundering Allegations

Utah’s lawsuit against TikTok unveils shocking claims: the platform’s LIVE feature allegedly enables grooming of minors and criminal activities like money laundering. Recently unsealed court records in Utah’s lawsuit against TikTok expose alarming allegations. The state claims TikTok’s LIVE feature facilitates the exploitation of minors through sexual content and serves as a conduit for money laundering.

January 2, 2025

Money Laundering in the Luxury Goods Market: A Comprehensive Analysis!

The luxury goods market has become an increasingly attractive avenue for money laundering activities due to its high-value transactions, global appeal, and potential for anonymity. This report analyzes the intersection of luxury goods and financial crime, highlighting the risks, methods, and regulatory challenges in this interesting market.

December 27, 2024

U.S. Appeals Court Reinstates Corporate Transparency Act Enforcement

On December 23, 2024, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a nationwide injunction, allowing the enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). This 2021 law mandates that corporations and limited liability companies disclose their beneficial owners to the U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

December 22, 2024

Tether’s Unbelievable Bet: Investment in StablR Raises Red Flags Over Links to Cybercrime and Financial Scandals

Tether, the world’s leading stablecoin issuer, has shocked the crypto and financial world by investing in StablR, an EU stablecoin issuer run by former Payvision COO Gijs op de Weegh. This move raises serious questions about Tether’s due diligence processes and ethical commitments, as StablR’s leadership is tied to one of Europe’s most notorious financial scandals involving cybercrime facilitation. Crypto investors and stablecoin users should proceed with caution.

December 20, 2024

Deutsche Bank Securities Fined $4M for Delayed SARs Filings – U.S. SEC Sends a Stern Warning to the Market

Deutsche Bank Securities, a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, has agreed to pay a $4 million penalty after the U.S. SEC found significant delays in filing SARs. From 2019 to 2024, some investigations dragged on for over two years, rendering SARs useless for timely law enforcement actions. This case underscores the critical importance of compliance timeliness under the Bank Secrecy Act.

December 19, 2024

Curaçao’s Gaming Regulation: A Money Laundering Paradise in the Making?

Curaçao’s recent approval of the National Ordinance on Gambling (LOK) is sparking outrage and fear, with critics dubbing it a “money laundering law.” Financial expert and whistleblower Luigi Faneyte warns that the new regulation could turn Curaçao into a haven for organized crime while undermining the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ international reputation.

December 16, 2024

Explosive: Former CoinsPaid Executive Frederic Hubin Alleges Fraud and Illegal Gambling Involvement!

A few hours ago, the former CoinsPaid executive Frederic Hubin accused the Estonian-based crypto payment processor CoinsPaid of fraudulent activities in a LinkedIn post directed at the Estonian FIU. As an insider, Hubin’s claims add significant weight to ongoing concerns surrounding CoinsPaid and its affiliated entities, including their ties to SoftSwiss and Austrian-registered A.R. Merkeleon GmbH.

December 12, 2024

Vietnam’s Financial Scandal Deepens: Tycoon Truong My Lan Appeals Life Sentence in Money Laundering Case

Vietnamese property tycoon Truong My Lan, 68, recently denied an appeal against her death sentence, is now challenging a life sentence in a separate case where she was convicted of large-scale money laundering, according to state media reports on Thursday (Dec 12). Lan is a prominent figure in Vietnam's property sector and the former head of Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB), which prosecutors assert she covertly controlled.

The Unraveling of Rabidi and the Rise of the SoftSwiss Network: Our Updated Forensic Report

A few months ago, FinTelegram released a first forensic report on the bankruptcy of Rabidi N.V., a Curacao-registered online casino operator with hundreds of millions in revenues — and no traceable assets by the time of its collapse in May 2024. That report already raised serious questions about the opaque structures behind Rabidi’s operations and its successor, Liernin Enterprises Ltd.

DeFi Decoded: Smart Contracts – The Code Behind the DeFi Revolution

Smart contracts are the invisible architects of decentralized finance. These self-executing lines of code run everything from token swaps to lending platforms without middlemen. But while they offer autonomy, they also introduce new risks—bugs, exploits, and irreversible mistakes. In this fourth installment of our FinTelegram DeFi Series, we explain what smart contracts are.

CFTC

Despite New Crypto Friendlyness: No Settlement Between U.S. CFTC And KuCoin?

A planned settlement between the U.S.CFTC and crypto exchange KuCoin is now in limbo due to a reported policy shift within the CFTC. This change is attributed to the Trump administration’s new approach, which deprioritizes enforcement actions against crypto companies. As a result, a CFTC attorney said that it is "unlikely that such authorization will be granted in the near term" regarding the settlement approval.

SEC’s New Era: Paul Atkins Sworn In—Will Crypto Finally Get the Regulatory Clarity It Deserves?

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has entered a new chapter with the swearing-in of Paul S. Atkins as its 34th Chairman, a move widely anticipated to mark a dramatic pivot in how the agency approaches crypto and DeFi regulation. For years, the financial industry—especially the burgeoning digital asset sector—has bristled under the SEC’s “Regulation by Enforcement” strategy.

Crypto Mogul Changpeng Zhao – Fallen, Rich, and Rising Again?

As spring 2025 blooms and Easter’s themes of rebirth fill the air, Changpeng Zhao emerges as one of the most controversial figures of startup mythology: a man who fell spectacularly, paid a price—then rose again, wealthier and louder than ever. Once the almighty architect of Binance, CZ now resides in Dubai with a net worth that Forbes estimates at $63 billion.