Money Laundering

Using your IT department to identify future trends in financial crime

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Criminals and others who act against the interests of society at large are almost always ahead of financial crime and other risk managers when it comes to the the planning and execution of activity. Criminal and anti-social activity are magnified in relation to the effect on economies, even ultimately being an accelerant in the fires that led to the global financial crisis that only the most naive or self-centred deny is over. The fascinating thing is this: while they don't know it, the seeds of major, even pandemic, crime are easily visible. You just need to know where to look.

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Regulator reveals conviction for money laundering

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The UK's Financial Conduct Authority has revealed that, in 2017, it secured the conviction for money laundering of one Richard Baldwin. However, the case was kept out of the public eye due to reporting restrictions.

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Internet scams: an old favourite returns

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This fraudster pretends to be a partner with a London law firm called "Richardson Lawyer Chamber" - without realising that the name contains a grammatical error that raises suspicion within the first few lines. And then there's his name: "David T Duddias" - a format very rarely used in the UK. Finally, the mail is sent from a mail address which may or may not be real and may or may not be spoofed but it's in Japan which raises its own questions and his return address is with that current favourite of fraudsters, Outlook.com. As if that's not bad enough, the spam-scam is plain: he wants to commit a fraud against someone else and he wants your help to launder the proceeds. Obviously, what he really wants is to defraud you. Read the full e-mail below.

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The "software glitch" that wasn't - Deutsche Bank's excuse doesn't make sense

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"It was the computer wot done it, guv," is the latest excuse to come out of a major bank caught with its money laundering knickers around its ankles.

There's just one incy-wincy-little point. It wasn't the software - it was the people .. and it's the same problem that makes reliance on so-called AI so dangerous, Nigel Morris-Cotterill says.

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The Monetary Authority of Singapore issues updated money laundering, etc. guidance for insurance companies.

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On 13 May, the Monetary Authority of Singapore issued its market-segment specific "GUIDELINES ON PREVENTION OF MONEY LAUNDERINGAND COUNTERING THE FINANCING OF TERRORISM-DIRECT GENERAL INSURANCE BUSINESS,REINSURANCE BUSINESS, ANDDIRECT LIFE INSURANCE BUSINESS (ACCIDENT & HEALTH POLICIES)". Here are ten key phrases.

BIScom Subsection:

Compliance

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The Three Lines of Defence

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It has become fashionable to talk of "The Three Lines of Defence" in relation to money laundering, terrorist financing, etc. Is it just more more quasi-militaristic buzzwords, so loved by Americans, and a pretence of intellect or is there genuine merit here?

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Securities brokerage Responsible Officer banned for money laundering, etc. compliance failures

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The responsible officer of a securities brokerage has been banned from the industry for ten months as a result of his "failure to discharge his duties as an RO" and a member of the company's senior management. The company has been fined a substantial amount, too.

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Law Society of England and Wales considers money laundering compliance checks "an assault."

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The Law Society of England and Wales has, since the early 1990s, fought a rear-guard action against the engagement of solicitors in counter-money laundering efforts. The Regulator, which was first a division of the Law Society and then spun off to become a ludicrously politically charged enforcer of any passing social fad had, at that time the correct view that solicitors were within the scope of the original Money Laundering Regulations. At last, the regulator, now known as the Solicitors (sic) Regulatory Authority (it's so trendy it doesn't use an apostrophe where its name demands one) has decided that money laundering is something it needs to pay attention to. The Law Society is on a war footing, declaring the SRA's action "an assault."

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Elderly people are easy targets for fraudsters. But not always.

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The elderly have always been easy targets for fraudsters using "I can fix the hole in your roof" or charity, even religious, scams. But the internet is making it easier for fraudsters to be convincing and the internet is making even direct personal contact practically anonymous. Advance fee fraud no longer relies on mail, telex or fax but on e-mail and telephones, tech that the elderly are predisposed to trust. But sometimes, they fight back....

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ASIC prosecutes money laundering

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Now here's a surprise: Australian regulator ASIC has charged (actually charged, as in criminal charges) three people with laundering the proceeds of an attempt to manipulate an insolvency. Other countries have long included insolvency offences as predicate offences for money laundering purposes: this is the first case we can think of where action has been taken.

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Jail for laundering proceeds of kidnapping

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Case Summary:

A man convicted of conspiracy was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for laundering the proceeds of a violent kidnapping organisation that held two dozen Mexican nationals hostage.

Type of conduct:

Money Laundering

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Who wants to be a money launderer?

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We'ld like to thank Mr Andrea Van for the opportunity to earn 10% of USD125,500,000. His email address, should you want to take him up on his offer, is mabutdengjok@gmail.com. So, not Andrea Van, then. And he's apparently sent from infor@inbox.com which hardly encourages faith in his bona fides and nor does the fact that he's spoofed that address: inbox.com does not authorise his IP address, 165.227.107.154, for sending mail. So, basically, every verifiable "fact" is a lie. And that's before we get onto what he's offering.

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Bank VP jailed for money laundering

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In what might just count as the simplest money laundering scheme ever, a senior officer of a US bank is to be banged up for two years.

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Are actions that are suspicious under GDPR suspicious for money laundering purposes?

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In the past day or so, a company called emailmovers limited using the domain xmr3.com have sent out a number of spam e-mails addressed to personal e-mail addresses at companies. They claim "Emailmovers is one of the UK's only B2B email data owners who provide Full Email Marketing services in house" which is, in itself a nonsensical statement.

But it's their claim for how many people they feel it's OK to send unwanted commercial email to that is interesting. Just how did they get it and how do they think it's legal to use it? And is it a predicate crime for money laundering purposes if they have breached GDPR?

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What is "cognitive bias" and why does it matter to Financial Crime Risk Officers, etc.?

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"Cognitive bias" is one of those expressions, along with various other forms of bias, that's become popular in recent months. However, there's nothing new and nothing clever about cognitive bias. In fact, it's one of the most fundamental aspects of decision making. We all, without exception, do it. But the problem is that it underpins one of the reasons that financial crime risk management fails, over and over again.

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