Growing protests over corruption in global hot spots means increased risks of the movement of proceeds of corruption from PEPs to the West

Tweet 2019 seems to have been a record year for mass protests by citizens marching against national corruption – at least 10 countries have had massive protests in the last few months, many of which are ongoing. Corruption at the national level is perpetrated by politically exposed persons (“PEPs“) who have access to the country’s […]

Spanish police seize €9 million in Bitcoin as part of money laundering Bitcoin ATM ring

Tweet The Spanish Guardia Civil has arrested eight people and seized over €9 million, luxury cars, cannabis plants and jewellery in connection with an alleged money laundering operation in Spain that involved the use of Bitcoin ATMs and digital currency exchanges to launder proceeds of crime and avoid the filing of suspicious transaction reports. According […]

23 members of transnational criminal organization arrested for money laundering

Tweet Europol announced today that the Spain and Columbia collectively arrested 23 members of an unidentified transnational criminal organization (the “Group”) involved in laundering the proceeds of crime on behalf of other unidentified transitional criminal organizations. The Group didn’t launder a lot of money – only €2 million.  The Group allegedly used Bitcoin to launder […]

Millions seized from banks, PayPal and in Bitcoin & IOTA in European drug bust

Tweet According to a statement by Europol, police in Austria and Spain seized €4.5 million in Bitcoin and IOTA as part of a bust of a transnational criminal organization that manufactured and trafficked LSD and laundered the proceeds of crime. Europol seized €5.5 million in Bitcoin, €137,000 in IOTA, 10 luxury vehicles and €1.6 million in […]

Europol Report highlights increased global cybercriminality, threats with NFC and Blockchain payments

Tweet Europol released its 2016 Internet Organized Crime Threat Assessment Report on cybercrime today and the results are more disturbing than last year’s report. The Report can be accessed here. Generally, the Report findings were that the volume and scope of cybercrime has reached very high levels and now surpasses regular non-online crimes. The Report […]

Europol says organized crime is quickly changing to virtual methods

Tweet In a report released yesterday on serious organized crime called “Exploring Tomorrow’s Organized Crime” (the “Report“), Europol found that organized crime is now becoming a virtual activity over the Internet and as a result, transnational criminal organizations (“TCO“) are migrating towards virtual payment methods to conduct commercial affairs, including digital payments. According to Europol, […]

French court convicts 5 men for carbon trading fraud and money laundering

Tweet Carbon Trading conviction for money laundering A French Criminal Court has convicted and sentenced five people for money laundering for defrauding the European Union’s carbon trading system of 1.8 billion Euro over loss tax revenue. The defendants were arrested as part of a French investigation into money laundering, fraud and tax evasion in the […]