Russian Organized Crime in Canada’s Capital Markets – A Retrospective

Tweet YBM was Canada’s Wirecard 30 years ago. It remains one of the most surreal criminal cases 30 years ago this month, in February 1993, Russian organized crime leaders set a plan in motion to infiltrate Western capital markets, steal investor funds and launder money. The Russian organized crime group was the Solntsevskaya, and they […]

A potpourri of bribery, Canada, Russian organized crime, Russian Oligarchs and money laundering

Tweet How organized crime used to work in Russia This is not a story but a potpourri of interesting events involving bribery, extortion, attempted murder, banking, Russian organized crime, Oligarchs and Canada.  We start with Russian Oligarch Vladimir Ivanovich Yakunin (Владимир Иванович Якунин), a high level politically exposed person.  Yakunin was a former KGB agent and Soviet […]

“The Lady Oil” – How an Italian singer went on Facebook to partner with the Mafia to build a billion-dollar illegal oil trafficking business

Tweet The petrol mafia case was first police case of ‘Ndrangheta and Camorra convergence across Italy A Deal with the Mafia Here’s a question – what do you do to revive a failed oil business you inherited if you have no business skills and no money? You might make friends with a Mafia associate on […]

BVI Premier arrested for conspiracy to import cocaine for Mexican cartel

Tweet The Premier of the British Virgin Islands, Andrew Alturo Fahie, and BVI port authority head Oleanvine Maynard (“Maynard“), were arrested on drug trafficking and money laundering charges in Miami yesterday, shortly after looking at $700,000 in cash in a private jet that was earmarked for them. The cash, they were told, was a payment […]

Vancouver Hells Angels part of a group that controlled eight public companies

Tweet The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC“) filed more cases in New York over Easter, targeting actors in the Canadian capital markets. The cases are for alleged pump and dump schemes. One of the two latest cases by the SEC charges Courtney Vasseur, a full-patch member of the Hells Angels in Vancouver, with securities fraud […]

Using complex network analytics to improve litigation and financial crime outcomes

Tweet With access to justice becoming a growing problem in Canada, as more people and companies become unable to afford to litigate, or be litigated against, lawyers and governments are turning to technology to find ways to bring down the costs of litigation and of prosecution. Covid-19 has forced us to accelerate the use of […]

Narco jets – how next to no security and oversight at private jet terminals, fuels use of private jets to move US$1 billion worth of drugs and money for drug cartels

Tweet Jetting money around for cartels According to a seasoned former agent with HSI, who gave an interview to the Courier Journal, private jets are being used to move drugs and bulk proceeds of crime in cash for the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico, without much in the way of processes to give law enforcement visibility. […]

Narco subs, drug cartels and Canada – new threats on the horizon to international security

Tweet Narco subs In the last few months, an increasing number of so-called narco subs, also called drug subs, have been intercepted in international waters by law enforcement (“LE“). A narco sub is usually a self-propelled semi-submersible (“SPSS“) used by drug traffickers to transport large quantities of illegal drugs for cartels to an international market. […]

SEC asks California Court to impose US$1M fine against pump and dumper tied to old Vancouver Hell’s Angels house shoot-out case

Tweet A very long time ago, July 2007 to be exact, a Shaughnessy mansion located at 1178 Laurier Avenue in Vancouver, Canada, was shot up. No one was hurt. People said that the shooter was a member of the Hell’s Angels, angry over losses he incurred from a pump and dump stock scheme that dumped […]

Two foreign men from a digital currency exchange murdered in Mexico

Tweet Two more men involved in a digital currency exchange and a digital currency, were murdered in Mexico. Their bodies were recently found stuffed in suitcases in Sinaloa cartel land, according to this newspaper article. The two, Oscar Brito from Chile and Ignacio Ibarra from Argentina, were involved in selling and promoting the digital currency […]