There's an actor called Zachary Joseph Horwitz. He's also known as Zach Avery. He lives in a place called Berverlywood. Honestly. It's not Beverly (sic) Hills and it's not Hollywood. Actors, at least the good ones, are skilled at creating an illusion. What you see is not supposed to be real.
So what happens when an actor takes those skills away from the stage? The answer is... he gets arrested for fraud. And then the Federal Bureau of Investigation gets excited and issues a media release worthy of a hyperbolic - and grammatically dubious - studio. But under that, there's actually a good story.
The USA's Securities and Exchange Commission has obtained an asset freeze and other emergency relief in an emergency civil (i.e. not criminal court) enforcement action against Los Angeles-based actor Zachary Horwitz and his company, 1inMM (one in a million) Capital, LLC in connection with an alleged Ponzi scheme that raised over USD690 million. Horwitz and 1inMM allegedly told investors that they were buying film rights, purportedly to resell them to Netflix and HBO; in fact, 1inMM actually had no business relationship with either company.
This article is going to make a lot of people very angry. Sadly, those that are going to be angry are those that have been found out; those that should be angry - the consumers who have been misled and the tax payers who have supported the rampant charge into FinTech support by regulators and, even, the banks who have had their business models and even management plans disrupted, in the true sense of the word, by the host of millennial-targeting banks that pretended they were not banks, supported in that subterfuge by regulators - are not going to be angry.
Vortex Centrum Limited, publishers of Financial Crime Risk and Compliance Training.com has announced a new micro course.
"Non-Fungible Tokens" is a carefully researched analysis of NFTs from the point of view of those financial institutions and other businesses that are regulated for the purposes of money laundering and terrorist financing.
We have put up, marked for pre-order but really just so that clients can see the curriculum, information relating to the compulsory module Key Concepts - Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, part of the Quick To Learn More series for front liners to managers, from beginner to intermediate.
Buy Now, Pay Later is a rapidly growing consumer credit sector. Last year, it is reported, it was used in 3.6% of retail sales in the UK. Is it a panacea or a plague?
Any vaccine being advertised on websites or the dark web, will not be legitimate, will not have been tested and may be dangerous. - Interpol.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise that vaccines would be the next vehicle, after personal protective equipment, for fraudsters capitalising on the world's anxiety to find a fix for CoVid-19.
After all, labels and vials aren't exactly difficult to make or come by - and there are very, very established production and distribution networks for a wide range of illegal, and illegally trafficked, copies, entirely counterfeit and somewhere in between drugs.
What is more surprising is that for something with such an opportunity to have taken active steps to combat these risks before distribution of CoVid-19 vaccines started, it's not been...
Any vaccine being advertised on websites or the dark web, will not be legitimate, will not have been tested and may be dangerous. - Interpol.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realise that vaccines would be the next vehicle, after personal protective equipment, for fraudsters capitalising on the world's anxiety to find a fix for CoVid-19.
After all, labels and vials aren't exactly difficult to make or come by - and there are very, very established production and distribution networks for a wide range of illegal, and illegally trafficked, copies, entirely counterfeit and somewhere in between drugs.
What is more surprising is that for something with such an opportunity to have taken active steps to combat these risks before distribution of CoVid-19 vaccines started, it's not been...
There's more fallout from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. The Australian Securities and Investment Commission has charged Allianz Australia Insurance Limited has been charged with seven counts, and AWP Australia Pty Ltd with one count, of making false or misleading statements regarding the sale of Allianz domestic and international travel insurance products.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today announced a settlement with BitPay, Inc., a private company based in Atlanta, Georgia, that offers a payment processing solution for merchants to accept digital currency as payment for goods and services. BitPay agreed to remit USD507,375 to settle its potential civil liability for 2,102 apparent breaches of multiple sanctions requirements. We have edited the relevant media material and commented on it.
The case provides fascinating background as US PoTUS Biden undertakes a wide-ranging review of Trump-era regulations including sanctions. Much will turn on whether such sanctions are "revoked" or "repealed" or, even, just "cancelled." It also draws attention to "know your customer's customer."
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission has today announced that it has preliminary competition concerns with Aon plc’s (Aon) proposed merger with Willis Towers Watson plc (WTW).
Note, unusually, this is actually a merger not a takeover: a new combined company will be owned as to approx 2/3 by AON and 1/3 by Willis shareholders. While shareholders have approved the deal, competition authorities around the world are not inclined to give an automatic nod.
We all moan that we are having a bad day, that we need something ranging from coffee to a punch-bag, make hopeful statements that the universe (or whatever) will make tomorrow a better day.
Sometimes we tell ourselves, or each other, to pull our socks up and get on with making something good happen, even though we know, in our heart of hearts that we are deluding ourselves and that, in truth, there are times when we have no control over the present and no influence over the future.
Morningstar has been mounting a persistent advertising campaign on LinkedIn recently. It it, it promotes its due diligence services. An announcement by the USA's Securities and Exchange Commission raises several questions, not the least of which is "who or what is Morningstar"?
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