Two bank employees charged with money laundering and creating “doctored” bank records to steal over $1 million

Tweet In the Southern District of New York, two employees of a large national bank were charged with money laundering, bribery and wire fraud in connection with activities they allegedly undertook to create “doctored” bank records in order to steal over $1 million. Specifically, the US government alleges that they knowingly devised a scheme to […]

21-year-old SIM swapper who allegedly stole $81 million in crypto, ordered to pay it back

Tweet Bitcoin investor, Michael Terpin, won a US$75.8 million civil judgment on Friday in California against 21-year-old Nicholas Truglia who SIM-swapped Terpin’s cellular phone and stole over US$23 million from Terpin’s digital currency wallets that held coins from three ICOs. In all, Truglia is alleged to have stolen over US$81 million in crypto currencies via […]

OFAC releases framework for sanctions compliance

Tweet The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published a framework for sanctions compliance yesterday which describes the sanctions compliance program standards for US legal and natural persons and for US-origin goods or services. The framework mirrors the requirements for a competence AML program and includes: commitment from the top down […]

Do foreign digital currency exchanges taking US customers online have to be AML registered in the US?

Tweet Do foreign digital currency exchanges that take US customers online have to be AML registered in the US? Not unsurprisingly, the answer is yes. Under US law, digital currency ​exchangers​ qualify as money transmitters and are subject to the obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act. Key concepts to know are that: An exchanger is a person […]

Canada doing a lot worse combatting money laundering and drug trafficking according to 2018 US INCSR report

Tweet Canada once again a “Major Money Laundering” country The 2018 “International Narcotics Control Strategy Report” (INCSR) published in March 2018 by the U.S. Department of State identifies Canada once again as a “major money laundering country” along with a host of risky countries for financial crime, and is generally doing a lot worse combatting money […]

How the US Alien Tort Statute might expose Canadian financial institutions

Tweet The US Supreme Court this term is ruling on a case that may impact Canadian banks and other financial institutions. The case, Jesner v. Arab Bank, involves over 6,000 petitioners from Israel who were victims of terrorism in the Middle East who filed a tort claim against a corporation in New York, the Arab […]

Four indicted in US cannabis tech pump & dump scheme that allegedly scammed investors and used Canadian promoters

Tweet Four people connected with a company called BioCube Inc., with connections to Canada were indicted on Friday for securities fraud and two for money laundering. They are alleged to have defrauded the public securities market by making untrue statements, omitting to make material statements and intentionally deceiving investors  – in essence, for engaging in […]