Financial Crime Weekly Episode 104

Hello, and welcome to episode 104 of the Financial Crime Weekly Podcast, I’m Chris Kirkbride. This week has been yet another busy week for financial crime, which as I’ve been ill, I could well have done without. Anyway, sanctions news covers a broad range of targets, including Belarus, Iran, Venezuela, and North Korea. The action comes in the form of new designations and some enforcement. On bribery and anti-corruption, the all-party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption & Responsible Tax has published its Economic Crime Manifesto II, and Transparency International has been busy churning out publications this week. On money laundering, Tiktok has been referred to AUSTRAC, and Europol has made a number of arrests of members of a money laundering gang. The fraud news contains the usual content from the US on Covid-19 fraud, and the Met Police in London has compromised a website used by fraudsters. There are other bits and pieces, as well as the round-up of cyber-attack news this week. Let’s crack on.

As usual, I have linked the main stories flagged in the podcast in the description. These are:

All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption & Responsible Tax, Economic Crime Manifesto II.

Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, “The Decade of Transformation, Towards a Future of Integrity”: the EU gathered partners to mark 10 years of its support to rule of law and anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine.

European Parliament, Fighting money laundering: final vote on a single EU rulebook and a new watchdog.

Europol, 9 arrests in EUR 645 million JuicyFields investment scam case.

Financial Action Task Force, FATF Ministers commit to stepping up efforts to fight money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing.

Financial Conduct Authority, Consultation Paper CP24/2**: Our Enforcement Guide and publicising enforcement investigations–a new approach.

Governing, How to Protect Water Systems Against Cyber Attack.

International Federation for Human Rights, Fighting grand corruption: an essential lever to protect human rights worldwide.

Mandiant, Unearthing APT44: Russia’s Notorious Cyber Sabotage Unit Sandworm.

Metropolitan Police, Law enforcement infiltrates fraud platform used by thousands of criminals worldwide.

Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Financial Sanctions Notice: Sudan.

Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Financial Sanctions Notice: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Financial Sanctions Notice: Iran.

Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, Financial sanctions targets: list of all asset freeze targets.

Pinsent Masons, How social media influencer marketing regulation differs across the Asia Pacific region.

Transparency International, Will the EU act Decisively and Raise its Anti-Corruption Standards?

Transparency International, Stopping Corruption Promoting Integrity.

UK Legislation, Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (Financial Penalty) Regulations 2024 SI No 445.

US Department of Justice, Former North Korean Official Indicted on Sanctions Evasion, Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud, and Money Laundering Charges.

US Department of Justice, International Arms Dealers Charged with Conspiring to Unlawfully Export Weapons and Ammunition from the United States to Sudan and Iraq.

US Department of Justice, Biotech CEO Sentenced for $28M COVID-19 Securities Fraud Scheme and Obstruction of Related Investigation.

US Department of Justice, Sterling businessman indicted for Covid-19 relief fund fraud.

US Department of Justice, Three Individuals Indicted in Multistate COVID-19 Relief Program Fraud Scheme.

US Department of State, Venezuela Sanctions Relief: Expiration of General License 44.

US Department of the Treasury, Treasury Targets Belarusian Sanctions Evasion Networks and Cogs in Russia’s War Machine.

US Department of the Treasury, Treasury Targets Iranian UAV Program, Steel Industry, and Automobile Companies in Response to Unprecedented Attack on Israel.

US Department of the Treasury, Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Janet L. Yellen at the 2024 Financial Action Task Force Ministerial.

US Securities and Exchange Commission, Comment on FinCEN’s AML/CFT Program and SAR Filing for Registered Investment Advisers and Exempt Reporting Advisers Proposal.