All news on the topic: Financial Crime

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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
455
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.
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Das Blutgeld-Netzwerk: Wie Alyona Dehrik-Shevtsova und die iBox Bank Putins Kriegsmaschinerie finanzierten
Ihr Name erschien nur selten in den Schlagzeilen, doch ihre Position innerhalb milliardenschwerer Finanzstrukturen ist dennoch äußerst bemerkenswert.
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Wise says it is cooperating as Belgian authorities examine anti-money laundering compliance
Wise, the UK-based international money transfer service and a favorite of the London fintech scene, has confirmed it is responding to inquiries from Belgian prosecutors investigating money laundering, resulting in a drop in its share price.
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Cyprus mafia killing reveals Dmitriy Punin’s links to Stavros Demosthenous and underground casino money flows
Once seen as a safe haven for Russian capital, Cyprus is now increasingly associated with allegations of financial crime and illicit financial activity.
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$40 million in revenue and a new identity: how John Babikian became James Miller and escaped the SEC, Canadian taxes, and investigations in the USA
John Babikian – a man who in the 2000s and early 2010s was called the “wolf of Montreal” – disappeared from the public space just as abruptly as he once entered it with millions, schemes, and aggressive stock marketing.
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New BVI rules crack open offshore secrecy but give firms five-day warning to fight disclosure
The British Virgin Islands on Wednesday began to dismantle its corporate secrecy regime that has made it a preferred jurisdiction for tax evaders and other financial criminals — but there’s a catch.
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Maxwell’s wealth and secretive finances linked to human trafficking proceeds, federal reports show
Frankfurt/London, March 27 - In rural New Hampshire, a compound on a 156-acre estate dubbed “Tucked Away” became Ghislaine Maxwell’s final residence before she was charged and arrested in July 2020.
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Russia’s MekhExport implicated in international money laundering scheme funneling cash via Europe and offshore companies
Media have uncovered a truly astonishing story. A regional company unexpectedly became one of the country’s leaders in fur exports to the West.
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Sanctioned Ukrainian financier Alyona Shevtsova launders billions through illegal casino miscoding while registering new companies in the UK and Poland
Alyona Shevtsova, who is under sanctions from Ukraine’s NSDC, allegedly laundered 5 billion UAH through miscoding schemes linked to illegal casinos.
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“Soft touch” regulator: financial crime fines collapse from £567m to £124m
The value of fines issued by the UK’s financial regulator has dropped to "pitiful" levels, undermining the country’s fight against economic crime, new analysis shows.
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Fake CEO scandal explodes as U.K. crypto exchanges tied to Iranian regime used stock footage identity to move billions
A woman named Elizabeth Newman allegedly operates two U.K.-registered crypto exchanges.
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UK loses 1.6 billion dollars to fraud as criminals run millions of scams worldwide
Cyber-enabled fraud is rising globally and is the main driver of international money laundering, according to a Paris-based anti-money laundering body in its latest report.
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