Canadian company acquires PokerStars

Tweet Acquisition of PokerStars A Canadian company, Amaya Gaming Group Inc., announced it has entered into a $4.9 billion deal to acquire all of the shares of Oldford Group, the Isle of Man company that operates PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker. PokerStars was founded by Canadian Isai Scheinberg. Amaya said that it believes the transaction […]

Inquiry in Canada hears that P3 infrastructure hospital project is “biggest corruption fraud” in Canadian history

Tweet According to law enforcement testimony at Canada’s Charbonneau Commission heard last week, the $2 billion public-private partnership (“P3“) infrastructure project in Canada to build the McGill University Hospital Centre (“MUHC“) is the largest corruption fraud case in the history of Canada. It’s also the first money laundering P3 infrastructure case in Canada. In reality, […]

China seeking advice on deporting 1,000 EB-5 immigrants from US and recover assets in what may be the first cases of G20 “denial of safe haven” policy

Tweet Removal of Foreign Nationals & Asset Recovery According to several news reports, such as the one here, the government of China is in discussions with the US government (and firms) regarding the process to deport or extradict former Chinese nationals believed to have immigrated with billions of dollars in proceeds of crime from corruption. […]

Canadian court dismisses charges against 3 jobless people over $24 million in unexplained cash

Tweet Here’s an interesting story about how a Court dismissed a $24 million money laundering case because, in the Court’s view, the evidence did not prove that three unemployed siblings who funneled millions of dollars in cash through a money services business in Vancouver were laundering proceeds of crime. Even though one of the siblings […]

As nations use money laundering laws to tackle tax fraud, cross-border cooperation is key

Tweet Our interview on a podcast with the Association of Certified Crime Specialists regarding the criminal investigation into Brazilian soccer coach Luiz Scolari by Portuguese authorities for money laundering arising from tax fraud. “The head coach of Brazil’s national soccer team has one more thing to worry about before the World Cup held in his […]

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, […]

Primer on correspondent banking relationships and offshore tax havens

Tweet How correspondent banking relationships are used to launder funds My favorite resource for correspond banking is the US Senate Report on Correspondent Banking published several years ago. Despite its age, it remains timely because it deals specifically with how the US financial system is used by correspondent banks in, mainly offshore tax havens to, […]

Canadian indicted in US for money laundering

Tweet International tax lawyer and former fund manager from Quebec indicted after IRS sting The arrest of two Canadians from Quebec, Eric St-Cyr, an investment fund manager, and Patrick Poulin, a lawyer, in the US over money laundering charges hit the news today when their cases were transferred to Florida for prosecution. St-Cyr and Poulin […]