The 2013 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (“INCSR“) published this month by the U.S. Department of State, particularly volume I on the drug trafficking trade, is more favourable of Canada than the last two years, primarily as a result of the enactment in Canada of the Omnibus Crime Bill C-10, know as the Safe Streets and [...]
Global Financial Integrity has released an interesting study detailing the illicit flow of funds from Russia to other countries. The highlights of the study entitled “Russia: Illicit Financial Flows and the Role of the Underground Economy”, available here, are that: From 1994 – 2011, Russia lost US$211 billion in illicit cash outflow; Most of the [...]
The European Commission formally proposed today that amendments to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws include measures to capture online gambling activities. Up until now, AML legislation has only included land-based casinos. The proposals would be implemented if approved by all 27 member states. Online gambling sites are unregulated for money laundering and terrorist financing [...]
Colin Dines, a retired British judge and former criminal law lawyer, is being extradited from London to Rome to face charges by an Italian magistrate that he was part of a transnational criminal organization complicit in laundering £344 million at the behest of the mafia. In 2010, an European Arrest Warrant (“EAW”) was issued against [...]
The news on Friday that the U.S. had indicted 11 individuals associated with the operation of the Internet gambling sites PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker for violations of U.S. gambling and anti-money laundering laws and bank fraud, has raised questions about the future of the funds held by those entities on behalf of [...]
The U.S. Attorney and the FBI today unsealed an indictment today charging 3 Canadians with money laundering, bank fraud and illegal gambling in connection with the operation of Internet gambling websites that provide online gambling services to U.S. residents. Eight other individuals, mostly residents of the U.S., were also indicted. The defendants include the founders [...]
Spanish lawyer Fernando del Valle, whom we wrote about here, was convicted of money laundering and sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay €3.4 million in fines. Authorities believe del Valle laundered up to €250 million through his law firm in Spain’s exclusive Marbella region. The case was one of the largest [...]
The Swiss government has announced that it has frozen several bank accounts that it suspects belong to departed Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak, his family and close associates, until the source of funds can be verified. Mubarak’s wealth is estimated to be €51 billion; a large portion of it is said to be held in bank [...]
The Swiss authorities have arrested ten suspected members of the terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) for alleged extortion and money laundering to support terrorist financing. According to a statement from the Swiss Attorney General’s office, the Tamils forced Sri Lankan foreign nationals living in Switzerland to provide financial support for the LTTE, [...]
The Vatican City State today confirmed that it has implemented new legislation aimed at curbing money laundering and terrorist financing based on the FATF 40+9 Recommendations. In a communiqué issued by the Secretariat of State, the Vatican said that the new Law Concerning the Prevention and Countering of the Laundering of Proceeds from Criminal Activities and [...]