US expands review of money laundering in real estate market

Tweet More scrutiny in US for real estate The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced that it is expanding its program to identify persons who may be hiding assets in residential properties in the US. The expansion adds additional cities to what are called the area for Geographic Targeting Orders (GTO). Title insurance agents in GTO […]

The $200 million a year refugee smuggling operation in Libya

Tweet A $200 million a year business and growing  The EU – Turkey deal to close the borders of the EU to refugees and migrants has shifted the human smuggling routes back to Libya. The focus back to Libya means ISIS’ large source of terrorist financing from this activity is flowing again, which may also […]

‘Twitter terrorist’ a danger, says panel at ACAMS Conference

Tweet The Lawyers Weekly has a good story covering the ACAMS Conference in Toronto’s panel on terrorist financing in which we participated with FINTRAC, Standard Chartered and the OPP to discuss the risks and issues of terrorism threats in Canada. The article, available here, discusses Ontario and security concerns, as well as how FINTRAC deals […]

In 2015, more countries become terrorist hotspots; Canada moves up ranks to become 35th in terrorism threat index; US moves up to 17th place

Tweet US and Canada move up on the terrorism threat index 2014 and thus far in 2015, have been marked by a dramatic increase in terrorist incidents and in the number of countries that have been pulled into terrorist activity and for which financial institutions have been used for terrorist financing. Western countries are becoming […]

The FIFA scandal and why banks may be facing regulatory issues over KYC failures

Tweet FIFA Indictment against PEPs The 47-count Indictment against 14 persons employed or engaged by FIFA by the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York (“EDNY“), and their arrest may do more than shake up international soccer – it also has the potential to result in significant fines against many global banks who […]

ISIS confirmed it is sending defectors back home to the West with instructions to commit terrorist acts

Tweet ISIS  sending defectors back home According to the popular website “Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently” written by people who oppose the Islamic State (“ISIS“) living in ar Raqqa, Syria, a town occupied by ISIS, ISIS is starting a campaign to send defectors back home to places like Canada, the UK, France and the US […]

Arrest of the Queen of ISIS sheds light on terrorist financing through Lebanese charities for refugees

Tweet According to an article in the Washington Post, the arrest of Saja Hamid al Dulaimi, the ex-wife of the leader of the Islamic State, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, has shed light on terrorist financing methods used by ISIS in Lebanon. The Queen of ISIS was arrested in November 2014, attempting to enter Lebanon with her […]

Is the ATM Global Network Unwittingly Used for Terrorist Financing?

Tweet We’re pleased to announce that Christine Duhaime is giving a presentation on the issue of “How the ATM Network Globally is Unwittingly Used for Terrorist Financing & Ways to Prevent it” at the 2015 Interac Conference in Ottawa. After a spouse of a member of the Islamic State Tweeted to the world from ar-Raqqah, […]

UK keeps its promise to jail officers for non-compliance with money laundering laws – likely world’s first incarceration over AML/CTF regulatory compliance failures

Tweet In what may be a world first, a UK Court has jailed the officer and owner of a money services business essentially for failing to comply with regulatory requirements for anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. Paramjit Singh Sangha, who operated a money services business called PS Gold Exchange in England, failed to comply with […]

Woman arrested in Toronto with 10,000 uncut diamonds inside her

Tweet Toronto woman arrested with 10,000 diamonds stored in a body part A woman arriving from Trinidad & Tobago, He­le­na Frei­da Bod­ner, was arrested at Toronto’s International Airport last month attempting to import 10,000 uncut diamonds in one of her body cavities. She has been charged with smuggling, making a false statement to immigration authorities, […]