Regulus — The global regulatory broadcast network

0:15

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 27 claims 20 Oct 2026

US arrests Pulido Vargas over two indictments tied to $2bn Venezuela laundering

The DOJ Criminal Division has announced the arrest of Alvaro Pulido Vargas, who faces a Southern District of Florida initial appearance on October 13 to answer two federal indictments from 2019 and 2021. Both allege laundering of bribery and fraud proceeds tied to Venezuelan government programs through the US financial system. For compliance leads, the case is a study in how US jurisdiction attaches to foreign corruption.

Pulido Vargas makes his initial appearance on October 13 in the Southern District of Florida to face two indictments returned in 2019 and 2021.
The 2021 indictment alleges roughly $1.6 billion in CLAP food and medicine contracts secured through bribes, with approximately $180 million transferred through or to the United States; it carries conspiracy and four money laundering counts, each with a 20-year maximum.
The 2019 indictment alleges laundering of approximately $350 million tied to Venezuela's government-controlled currency exchange, charging conspiracy and seven money laundering counts.
Co-defendant Alex Nain Saab Moran, named in the 2019 case, pleaded guilty to a money laundering scheme on September 15, 2026, per related DOJ content.
DEA Miami, FBI Miami and HSI Miami are investigating, with the prosecution forming part of the Homeland Security Task Force established by Executive Order 14159.

Source document

0:15

European Commission Digital Strategy Source document ↗

European Union European Commission Digital Strategy Financial Crime ✓ 17 claims 20 Oct 2026

Commission publishes DSA study mapping online financial scams and platform countermeasures

The European Commission has released a commissioned study mapping how financial scams spread across online intermediary services, including VLOPs and VLOSEs, and what platforms can do to stop them. It is a supervisory input under the Digital Services Act, not a compliance assessment. For anyone running trust-and-safety or financial-crime functions at a large platform, it signals the evidence base the Commission will draw on in future enforcement.

The study was published on 20 October 2026 and procured by the Commission in 2025 to support DSA supervisory and enforcement tasks.
It categorises online financial scams into six types and finds investment and romance scams the most common and fastest-growing in Europe.
Four countermeasure categories are identified: access and gatekeeping, detection and removal, user-facing measures, and platform-level policies and third-party cooperation.
The study, by Open Evidence and Spark Legal and Policy Consulting, does not evaluate compliance by providers of VLOPs and VLOSEs.

Source document

0:15

BIS Press Releases Source document ↗

Global BIS Press Releases Financial Crime ✓ 22 claims 20 Oct 2026

BIS working paper uses AI to measure how firms respond to sanctions and tariffs

BIS Working Paper 1386 presents a new methodology that uses large language models to read corporate earnings calls and classify how firms respond to geoeconomic pressure, including export controls, sanctions and tariffs. For compliance and government affairs teams tracking sanctions exposure and trade policy risk, the findings offer a data-driven map of which sectors and jurisdictions are adapting, and how.

BIS Working Paper 1386 was published on 19 October 2026 and runs to 119 pages.
The methodology uses large language models to read earnings calls and determine whether a firm states it is acting in response to geoeconomic pressure, including the stated rationale.
Export controls prompt targeted firms, especially Chinese firms facing US semiconductor and AI restrictions, to raise domestic R&D spending to build local substitutes.
Coalition firms in the US and Europe report lost revenue and asset writeoffs from Russia sanctions, while third-country firms in China and India report filling market gaps with discounted oil and rerouted trade.
US tariffs mostly raise costs and compress margins for firms reliant on imported inputs, while supply chains are reported shifting away from China toward the United States, Vietnam and Mexico.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 20 claims 20 Oct 2026

DOJ Fraud Division orders prosecutors to use early, pre-indictment asset seizures

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald has issued Directive 26-13, setting out how the National Fraud Enforcement Division will investigate and prosecute fraud. The memo pushes prosecutors toward early, pre-indictment asset seizures, digital-infrastructure takedowns and the combined use of multiple enforcement authorities. For firms exposed to US fraud enforcement, it signals a more aggressive, disruption-focused posture worth a few minutes.

Directive 26-13 requires Division prosecutors to deploy early, pre-indictment asset seizures and digital-infrastructure takedowns to freeze assets in real time.
Prosecutors are directed to combine the Division's tax, securities fraud, consumer fraud and cybercrime authorities against fraud schemes.
The directive urges developing cooperators, prosecuting corporate bad actors, seeking arrest and detention in appropriate cases, and fulsome advocacy at sentencing.
The Division cites a GAO estimate that the federal government loses between $233 billion and $521 billion annually to fraud.
The public may report corporate fraud to the Corporate Enforcement Section at corporate.enforcement@usdoj.gov.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 20 claims 20 Oct 2026

DOJ Charges 28 Green Card Holders With Voter Fraud Across California

The Justice Department unsealed criminal complaints against 28 lawful permanent residents across California's four federal districts, alleging they falsely claimed U.S. citizenship to register and vote, then lied about it on naturalization applications. The action follows a federal lawsuit against California over its refusal to set aside ballots from a list of flagged registrants.

DOJ charged 28 lawful permanent residents across California's Central, Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts with election-related federal crimes, arresting 11 on October 19, 2026.
False statements on a naturalization application and fraudulent voter registration are both felonies carrying a maximum five-year federal prison sentence; some defendants instead face a misdemeanor voting-by-an-alien charge with a one-year maximum.
On October 13, the federal government gave California a list of more than 20,000 likely noncitizen registrants and asked it to set aside their vote-by-mail ballots; California declined.
DOJ says all 28 defendants charged appear on that list of more than 20,000 names, and has filed a separate lawsuit against California seeking a court order to prevent counting of ballots from unverified registrants.
Court documents allege the defendants claimed U.S. citizenship to register and vote, then later denied under oath on naturalization paperwork that they had ever claimed citizenship, registered, or voted.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 13 claims 20 Oct 2026

US seeks over $280M from kitchen-products importer and CEO over China duty evasion

The Justice Department has filed a civil fraud suit tied to a criminal case already charged in December 2025, seeking to recover unpaid customs duties and fraud penalties from an importer and its chief executive personally. For compliance and GC teams tracking trade-fraud enforcement, the filing shows how civil recovery under the Tariff Act now runs in parallel with criminal prosecution of the same alleged conduct.

The government seeks $67.9 million in unpaid customs duties and $222.5 million in fraud penalties from Uni-Tile & Marble Inc. and CEO Xin Mian Pan, jointly and severally.
The alleged scheme ran from September 2018 to August 2023 using multiple shell companies to transship, undervalue and misdescribe goods imported from China.
The conduct spanned 503 declared shipments of wooden cabinets, vanities, quartz surface products, ceramic tiles and other merchandise.
The civil complaint enforces a CBP demand under 19 U.S.C. § 1592(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930, based on conduct also charged criminally on December 18, 2025 in the Northern District of California.
The Justice Department's Trade Fraud Task Force, created to combat avoidance of import duties, partners with CBP on the matter.

Source document

0:15

CFTC Enforcement Source document ↗

United States CFTC Enforcement Financial Crime ✓ 17 claims 20 Oct 2026

CFTC wins $288m EminiFX judgment against Eddy Alexandre over crypto Ponzi scheme

The CFTC has obtained summary judgment against Eddy Alexandre and his firm EminiFX over a commodity pool Ponzi scheme that drew more than $262 million from tens of thousands of investors in eight months. The segment covers the court's findings, the monetary relief ordered, and how much has actually been clawed back to victims so far.

The court ordered $228,576,962 in restitution, $15,049,500 in disgorgement and a $45,148,500 civil penalty.
EminiFX took in more than $262 million from tens of thousands of investors over eight months while promising weekly returns of 5% to 9.99%.
The firm suffered net losses exceeding $49 million, including at least $15 million Alexandre misappropriated for personal use.
A court-appointed receiver had returned over $98 million to more than 28,000 investors as of July 2026.
Alexandre is serving a nine-year prison sentence in a parallel action brought by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Source document

0:15

OFSI Source document ↗

United Kingdom OFSI Financial Crime ✓ 15 claims 20 Oct 2026

OFSI amends permitted travel expenses guidance within its sanctions licensing suite

OFSI's supplementary financial sanctions licensing guidance collects five HTML documents covering licensing principles, two delegation frameworks and permitted payments for staff and travel. The page was last updated on 10 September 2026 when the travel expenses guidance was amended. This is a reference point for anyone preparing licence applications for designated persons, and the update history shows where OFSI's thinking has shifted.

OFSI last updated the page on 10 September 2026, amending the permitted travel expenses guidance for sanctions licence applications.
The page gathers five HTML documents, including licensing principles, two delegation frameworks and permitted payments for staff and travel.
The Licensing Delegation Framework for Counter Terrorism was updated on 2 February 2026, and the delegation frameworks were updated on 21 October 2024.
OFSI published its Personal Staff Payments Licensing Guidance and moved the Travel Licensing Guidance to the digital format on 12 June 2024.
This guidance is supplemental to OFSI's general, regime, thematic and sectoral guidance.

Source document

0:15

SEC Press Releases Source document ↗

United States SEC Press Releases Financial Crime ✓ 12 claims 20 Oct 2026

SEC proposes scrapping its pay-to-play rule for investment advisers

The SEC has opened a consultation to rescind the pay-to-play rule that bars advisers from taking fees from government clients for two years after a covered political contribution, along with its recordkeeping provisions. For compliance teams that have built contribution pre-clearance programmes since 2010, this reopens a long-settled constraint. Comment runs 60 days after Federal Register publication.

The proposal would rescind Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-5 and strike the corresponding provisions from the Advisers Act recordkeeping rule.
The rule currently bars advisers from compensated advisory services to a government client for two years after a covered political contribution.
Antifraud prohibitions, fiduciary duty requirements, the compliance rule and the code of ethics rule would all remain in force.
The Commission cites a de facto strict liability standard under which small donations or 'foot faults' can trigger substantial prohibitions and fines.
The public comment period remains open for 60 days after the proposing release is published in the Federal Register.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 21 claims 20 Oct 2026

Falmouth man pleads guilty to laundering proceeds of $6M Medicare DME fraud scheme

A money laundering conspiracy plea that turns on a straw ownership arrangement and bank secrecy. Anzivino fronted a durable medical equipment company whose true owners billed Medicare for braces nobody ordered. The case is short but detailed on how the laundering actually worked, including the moment a bank balked and the funds moved anyway. Useful for anyone building out nominee-ownership and beneficial-ownership controls.

Anzivino acted as the nominee owner of Advanced Medical Supply Corp. while co-conspirators were the actual beneficial owners and managers.
Advanced submitted more than $6 million in Medicare claims for unneeded, unprescribed knee and back braces, and Medicare paid more than $3 million.
After a New Hampshire bank declined to confirm the recipient companies were legitimate, Anzivino opened an account at another bank and wired $1,494,938.09 across three transactions, each over $10,000.
The government seized approximately $353,768.29 in assets tied to the scheme from Advanced's bank account in 2024.
Anzivino is scheduled to be sentenced on January 21, 2027 and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 23 claims 19 Oct 2026

Miami man gets 36 months for $4.2 million trust tax-refund fraud scheme

The DOJ's National Fraud Enforcement Division secured a 36-month sentence against a Miami man who filed false tax returns for trusts he controlled, seeking more than $4.2 million in refunds. The case shows how the newly created Fraud Division is pursuing refund schemes, and sets out the restitution and supervised-release terms imposed.

Preval was sentenced on October 6, 2026 to 36 months in prison for filing a false tax return on behalf of a trust he controlled.
The false returns filed for trusts and himself collectively sought refunds totaling more than $4.2 million from the Treasury.
Preval obtained more than $580,000, used to pay off his home mortgage and other personal expenses, and was ordered to pay $580,647 in restitution to the IRS.
He also filed 2023 returns that omitted income from his employment, and received one year of supervised release.
The case was investigated by IRS Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by the National Fraud Enforcement Division's Tax Section.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 20 claims 19 Oct 2026

DOJ charges three over sex trafficking of minors, partly directed from a prison

The Justice Department's Criminal Division unsealed an indictment in the District of Delaware charging three defendants with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of minors by force, fraud and coercion, plus related CSAM counts. The case is notable for its allegation that one defendant continued directing the scheme from behind bars using contraband phones. This segment sets out who is charged, the alleged conduct and the penalties at stake.

All three defendants are charged with conspiracy to traffic a minor by force, fraud and coercion and face a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life in prison on those counts.
Geeter is currently serving a 97-year California state sentence and allegedly used contraband cell phones to engage in some of the conduct while incarcerated.
Geeter and Hasty are additionally charged with producing child sexual abuse material, with Geeter facing 25 to 50 years and Hasty 15 to 30 years on the CSAM charges.
The scheme allegedly compelled three minors and one adult to engage in commercial sex acts in Delaware and elsewhere using force, threats, fraud or coercion.
The FBI's Delaware Violent Crime and Safe Streets Task Force and Delaware State Police are investigating; the indictment remains an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent.

Source document

play

FCDO — sanctions announcements Source document ↗

United Kingdom FCDO — sanctions announcements Financial Crime ✓ 15 claims 19 Oct 2026

UK warns E1 settlement tender bidders they risk sanctions under new powers

On the closing day for bids on Israel's E1 settlement construction tender, the Foreign Secretary issued a direct warning to any business or individual considering participation. The statement points to new sanctions powers aimed at those involved in illegal settlement construction, and previews legislation on settlement goods and the services that finance them. A short but pointed signal for compliance and government affairs teams.

The 19 October 2026 statement marks the deadline for bids on Israel's E1 settlement construction tender.
The UK says it has created new powers to sanction individuals and companies involved in constructing illegal settlements such as E1.
Miliband warned bidders of legal and reputational consequences, including the risk of serious breaches of international law.
The Government reiterated a commitment to legislate to ban goods imported from illegal settlements and to act on services that finance or facilitate them.

Source document

0:15

Amlcft.Bnm Source document ↗

Malaysia Amlcft.Bnm Financial Crime ✓ 19 claims 19 Oct 2026

BNM issues plain-language AML/CFT guide for Malaysian DNFBPs and non-bank financial institutions

Bank Negara Malaysia has published a condensed AML/CFT/CPF guide aimed at designated non-financial businesses and professions and non-bank financial institutions. It walks these sectors through the main obligations under the AMLA and the dedicated policy document: KYC, sanctions screening, risk profiling, enhanced due diligence, suspicious transaction reporting and record retention, with the maximum penalties attached.

The guide binds DNFBPs and NBFIs including lawyers, accountants, trust companies, company secretaries, dealers in precious metals or stones, registered estate agents, licensed casinos and gaming outlets, moneylenders, pawnbrokers, and leasing and factoring businesses.
Firms must screen clients against the Ministry of Home Affairs (MOHA) and UNSCR sanctions lists covering terrorism, proliferation and other UN regimes, and on a positive name match must not commence business, freeze funds and block transactions.
Client risk profiling must assess four factors: client, product or service, geographical location and delivery channel, with enhanced due diligence applied to higher-risk clients.
Records, including KYC information, ID copies, transaction details and any STR analysis, must be kept for at least six years from termination of the business relationship.
Maximum penalties cited under AMLA sections 13, 14, 16 and 17 range up to a RM1 million fine and up to RM3 million or imprisonment up to five years or both.

Source document

0:15

Amlcft.Bnm Source document ↗

Malaysia Amlcft.Bnm Financial Crime ✓ 22 claims 19 Oct 2026

Malaysia overhauls proliferation-financing sanctions directive, binding banks to risk-assessment regime

Malaysia's Strategic Trade Secretariat has reissued its directive on targeted financial sanctions relating to proliferation financing, enforced from 7 June 2024. It binds a broad list of reporting institutions supervised by Bank Negara Malaysia, Labuan FSA and the Securities Commission, and goes beyond list-screening to require a documented PF risk assessment and a counter-proliferation compliance programme. This segment sets out who it covers and what they must now have in place.

The amended directive was enforced on 7 June 2024 and replaces the version dated 13 April 2018, issued under section 6 of the Strategic Trade Act 2010.
It is legally binding on the reporting institutions listed in Appendix I, which span banks, insurers, money-services businesses, capital-market intermediaries and designated non-financial businesses.
Institutions must immediately freeze a confirmed designated person's funds without the prior approval of the Strategic Trade Controller or supervisory authority.
Positive matches must be reported upon determination, with periodic reporting on changes due by 15 January of the following calendar year.
Institutions must identify, assess and document their proliferation-financing risks and implement a counter-proliferation financing compliance programme with a compliance officer, training and independent audit.

Source document

0:15

Amlcft.Bnm Source document ↗

Malaysia Amlcft.Bnm Financial Crime ✓ 24 claims 19 Oct 2026

Malaysia overhauls proliferation-financing sanctions directive, binds crypto custodians

Malaysia's Strategic Trade Secretariat has reissued its directive on targeted financial sanctions relating to proliferation financing, replacing the 2018 instrument. It restates freezing and screening duties tied to UN designations, adds explicit proliferation-financing risk-assessment and compliance-programme obligations, and applies across banks, insurers, DNFBPs, capital-market intermediaries and digital-asset service providers. Compliance teams should read it as a refreshed, legally binding baseline.

The TFS-PF (Amendment 2024) directive was enforced on 7 June 2024 and replaces the directive dated 13 April 2018, issued under section 6 of the Strategic Trade Act 2010.
Reporting institutions must freeze matched funds, assets and economic resources immediately, and the prior approval of the Strategic Trade Controller is not required to do so.
Institutions must screen their entire customer database, including dormant accounts, without delay upon a UNSC-published designation.
Institutions holding frozen or blocked funds must report changes to those funds by 15 January of the next calendar year using the Appendix III template.
Appendix I extends the obligations to licensed digital currency and digital token custodians and advisers, alongside banks, insurers, DNFBPs and Labuan entities.

Source document

0:15

Amlcft.Bnm Source document ↗

Malaysia Amlcft.Bnm Financial Crime ✓ 26 claims 19 Oct 2026

Bank Negara tells reporting institutions to apply FATF June 2026 high-risk list

Bank Negara Malaysia has circulated the FATF's June 2026 statements to all reporting institutions under AMLA, restating the obligations attaching to DPRK, Iran and Myanmar, and updating the increased-monitoring list. The circular reiterates a risk-based approach and warns explicitly against de-risking or blanket exits of customer categories, including NPOs linked to listed jurisdictions.

DPRK and Iran remain subject to FATF calls for countermeasures and enhanced customer due diligence, and institutions must continue applying targeted financial sanctions under the relevant UN resolutions.
Myanmar stays subject to enhanced due diligence, and the FATF will consider countermeasures if no further progress is made by October 2026.
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iraq were added to the FATF's grey list, while Algeria and Namibia were removed following significant progress.
BNM requires institutions to apply a risk-based approach and avoid de-risking or blanket exits of customer categories such as NPOs linked to listed jurisdictions.
For grey-list jurisdictions the FATF does not call for enhanced due diligence; institutions must assess each jurisdiction case-by-case in their risk assessments.

Source document

0:15

Brdr.Hkma Source document ↗

Hong Kong Brdr.Hkma Financial Crime ✓ 17 claims 19 Oct 2026

HKMA tells banks to close gaps on high-end money laundering after thematic review

The HKMA has issued a circular to all Authorized Institutions setting out findings from a thematic review of controls against sophisticated money laundering. It describes two live typologies, five areas needing enhancement, and asks firms to run a gap analysis. For heads of financial crime, it signals where HKMA supervisors will probe next, particularly on retail high-net-worth customers and source-of-wealth corroboration.

The HKMA identified two typologies: syndicates using retail accounts as a gateway to move funds across wealth management and private banking, and criminals using citizenship-by-investment nationalities to open accounts across jurisdictions for cross-border transfers.
Reviewers found retail high-net-worth customers were subject to weaker CDD than private banking clients despite very similar ML/TF risk, and want periodic portfolio monitoring with proportionate additional measures.
Some front-line staff overrelied on customer representations when establishing source of wealth and funds, without challenging reasonableness or seeking corroborating documentation.
Certain transaction monitoring alerts were closed without sufficient justification, including those triggered by opaque cash or cashier's order deposits and transactions with no customer nexus.
AIs are directed to conduct a gap analysis against the five enhancement areas and consider optimising their AML/CFT controls.

Source document

0:15

Brdr.Hkma Source document ↗

Hong Kong Brdr.Hkma Financial Crime ✓ 19 claims 19 Oct 2026

HKMA rewrites remote on-boarding rules for individual customers, citing deepfake fraud

The HKMA has updated its expectations for remotely on-boarding individual customers, replacing two earlier circulars. It restates two core principles for identity authentication and matching, warns specifically about deepfake-enabled impersonation and mule accounts, and tells authorized institutions and stored value facility licensees to review their systems against intelligence shared with the Hong Kong Police Force.

The circular supersedes the HKMA's remote on-boarding circulars of 1 February 2019 and 24 May 2021 for individual customers.
The 2020 corporate on-boarding circular and the June 2020 thematic-review feedback circular remain applicable and should be read alongside this letter.
Firms must satisfy two core principles: verifying the genuineness of identity documents and incontrovertibly linking the customer to that identity.
The HKMA cites deepfake technology, AI-driven automation and mule-account networks as escalating ML/TF threats to remote on-boarding.
AIs and SVF licensees are told to conduct a comprehensive review of remote on-boarding solutions, systems and oversight.

Source document

0:15

AMF France Source document ↗

AMF France Financial Crime ✓ 21 claims 19 Oct 2026

AMF publishes 2022-2025 review of AML controls, citing 16 sanctions among 46 cases

The AMF has released the lessons from four years of inspections carrying an anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorist-financing and tax-information-exchange component. It sets out where French asset managers and investment advisers keep falling short, from incomplete procedures to weak oversight of delegates, and signals a risk-based enforcement stance as AMLA's European supervision takes shape.

The synthesis covers 46 controls producing follow-up between 1 January 2022 and 31 December 2025, yielding 16 sanction decisions, 16 administrative settlements and 16 remediation letters, with some controls drawing mixed outcomes.
The AMF identifies incomplete or poorly adapted LCB-FT procedures and insufficiently personalised risk mapping that fails to link identified risks to actual vigilance measures.
Inspectors flagged weak oversight of delegates, distributors and third parties conducting customer due diligence, plus gaps in collecting and updating beneficial-owner, source-of-funds and PEP data.
The review stresses shortcomings in suspicious-transaction reporting to TRACFIN and reporting to the AMF, and in meeting automatic tax-information-exchange (EAI) obligations.
The AMF ties the publication to its 2026 supervision priorities, the Impact 2027 strategy and the phased establishment of the EU anti-money-laundering authority AMLA, created in June 2024.

Source document

0:15

ACPR Source document ↗

France ACPR Financial Crime ✓ 17 claims 19 Oct 2026

Banque de France launches national suspect-IBAN register to curb payment fraud

France has switched on a shared register of bank accounts flagged for fraud risk, letting banks and other payment service providers pool warnings about IBANs suspected of criminal use. The item matters to anyone running fraud-prevention or payments compliance in France: it creates a new reporting channel, sits under the 6 November 2025 law, and is designed to fold into a future EU data-exchange regime.

The FNC-RF went live on 7 May 2026 under the law of 6 November 2025, held by the Banque de France and fed by payment service providers.
The register lets all PSPs, chiefly banks, share flags on accounts identified by IBAN as potentially used by fraudsters.
No nominative data will be recorded and entries will be held for a limited duration.
The file complements existing OSMP measures including beneficiary verification and telephone-number authentication.
The FNC-RF is intended to integrate into an EU-level fraud data-exchange mechanism under the future European payment services regulation.

Source document

0:15

Euronext Source document ↗

Switzerland Euronext Financial Crime ✓ 24 claims 19 Oct 2026

Ex-Mirabaud partner and Swiss banking lobby chief convicted of bribery in Kuwait case

Switzerland's Federal Criminal Court convicted Pierre Mirabaud, a former partner at Geneva private bank Mirabaud & Cie and former head of the Swiss Bankers Association, of corruption and money laundering. The half-day hearing closed a long prosecution over payments to a Kuwaiti government official. For financial-crime teams, the case shows how an individual conviction can follow years after a regulator settles with the firm.

Pierre Mirabaud, 77, received a suspended two-year prison sentence after admitting corruption and money laundering at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona on 8 September 2026.
Prosecutors alleged hundreds of payments totalling 82.3 million Swiss francs ($101.7 million) to a Kuwaiti government official between 2000 and 2012 to win $595.2 million of bank business.
Mirabaud headed the Swiss Bankers Association from 2003 to 2009 and retired from the bank in 2009, continuing as a consultant until 2012.
Prosecutors sought 24 months against a maximum five years, citing his age, lack of prior convictions and cooperation.
FINMA said in 2024 it had confiscated 12.7 million francs of unlawfully generated profits from the bank over financial market law and money-laundering breaches.

Source document

0:15

European Commission — Migration and Home Affairs Source document ↗

European Union European Commission — Migration and Home Affairs Financial Crime ✓ 14 claims 19 Oct 2026

EU signs Additional Protocol to Warsaw Convention on asset recovery and money laundering

The EU has signed the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe's Warsaw Convention, updating a 2009 framework on laundering, seizure and confiscation. This segment covers what the Protocol adds, why Brussels is pursuing it, and the ratification steps still outstanding before any of it binds authorities or firms.

The EU signed the Additional Protocol to the Warsaw Convention on 14 October 2026 in Strasbourg.
The Protocol strengthens rules on freezing and confiscation, asset management, and police and judicial cooperation.
Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Luxembourg, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino and the UK also signed the Protocol.
The Protocol was adopted by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers on 15 May 2026 and is not yet in force.
Conclusion requires a Council decision and the consent of the European Parliament; the 2009 Convention remains unratified.

Source document

0:15

International Criminal Court Source document ↗

Global International Criminal Court Financial Crime ✓ 17 claims 19 Oct 2026

ICC states parties' Bureau regrets institutional sanctions against the Court, seeks revocation

The Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties has issued a statement regretting the imposition of sanctions on the International Criminal Court as an institution, following earlier measures against its elected officials. The statement calls for immediate revocation and urges States Parties and the international community to stand firm. It is short, political and non-binding, but it signals the Rome Statute system's institutional response.

The Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties regrets the institutional sanctions imposed on the International Criminal Court, in a statement dated 10 October 2026.
The statement says the institutional designation of the Court follows earlier sanctions targeting its elected officials.
The Bureau calls for the immediate revocation of the sanctions and urges all States Parties and stakeholders to continue cooperating with the Court.
The Assembly of States Parties is the management oversight and legislative body of the ICC; the Bureau consists of a President, two Vice-Presidents and 18 members elected for three-year terms.

Source document

0:15

Regulus Weekend Edition Source document ↗

Global Regulus Weekend Edition Financial Crime ✓ 20 claims 18 Oct 2026

AMLA roundtable sign-up closes Sunday; ESMA messaging mandate bites 7 December

A look at the deadlines and decisions ahead. The sole hard deadline this week is AMLA's Frankfurt roundtable sign-up, closing Sunday. Beyond it, ESMA's first T+1 compliance date, a pending Fed extension decision on stablecoin rules, and Basel's G-SIB timetable all reward reading each regime backwards from its earliest binding date rather than its headline event.

Expressions of interest for AMLA's Frankfurt simplified-CDD roundtables close 18 October 2026 at 23h59 CEST, with in-person sessions running 9 November to 2 December 2026.
ESMA's first binding T+1 deadline, mandatory electronic allocation and confirmation messaging, falls on 7 December 2026, ahead of EU T+1 settlement on 11 October 2027.
Four US banking groups have asked the Fed to move its 30 November stablecoin comment deadline to 29 January, and that decision is still pending.
Basel's EUR 350 billion G-SIB reporting threshold takes effect from 2027, its EBU cross-border consultation closes 14 January 2027, and annual averaging is deferred to 1 January 2030.
The SRB has scrapped quarterly MREL sign-off with immediate effect.

Source document

0:15

Regulus Weekend Edition Source document ↗

United States Regulus Weekend Edition Financial Crime ✓ 19 claims 18 Oct 2026

DOJ and Labor debar Cloudera from PERM for two years in US-worker bias settlement

A quiet week for sanctions designations and AML fines, but the enforcement that did land is instructive. The headline action pairs a Labor Department debarment with a DOJ civil-rights penalty from one set of facts. Alongside it, AMLA opened its simplified-CDD consultation channel and the ABA signalled where it sees fraud moving. Five minutes on what bit and what to watch.

Cloudera will be debarred from the PERM program for two years, fund $1.4 million in back pay and pay $600,000 in civil penalties.
DOJ described the Cloudera resolution as the fourteenth settlement since it relaunched its Protecting U.S. Workers Initiative in 2025, resolving an April lawsuit over recruitment for seven positions.
AMLA's expression-of-interest window for in-person Frankfurt roundtables on simplified customer due diligence closed 18 October 2026 at 23h59 CEST, with sessions running 9 November to 2 December.
The ABA's fraud-management award citation for M&T Bank's Karen Boyer foregrounded payment threats, social engineering, scams and account takeover as the current retail-banking fraud frontier.

Source document

0:15

American Bankers Association — newsroom Source document ↗

United States American Bankers Association — newsroom Financial Crime ✓ 15 claims 18 Oct 2026

ABA names Robertson and Boyer for Distinguished Service Awards in AML/CFT and fraud

The American Bankers Association has announced its Distinguished Service Awards for AML/CFT and fraud management. The recognitions went to two senior financial-crime practitioners for contributions to professional education and industry collaboration. This is a professional-recognition item rather than a rule change, but it signals where the industry's trade body places weight in its financial-crime training and community-building work.

Rebecca Schauer Robertson of Blue Ridge Bank received the ABA Distinguished Service Award for AML/CFT, recognizing a 30-year career in financial services.
Karen Boyer of M&T Bank received the ABA Distinguished Service Award for Fraud Management, cited for work on payment threats, social engineering, scams and account takeover.
Both were honored on October 14, 2026 at the ABA AML and Fraud Conference in Arlington, Virginia.
Robertson served on the founding boards of the Certified AML and Fraud Professional certification and the ABA AML and Fraud School, and helped design the school's curriculum.

Source document

0:15

CSSF Luxembourg Source document ↗

European Union CSSF Luxembourg Financial Crime ✓ 10 claims 18 Oct 2026

AMLA calls stakeholders to Frankfurt roundtables on simplified customer due diligence

AMLA is running sectoral roundtables on simplified customer due diligence, and Luxembourg's CSSF is pushing firms to take part. The sessions will shape draft guidelines meant to standardise how simplified CDD is applied across the EU. The window to express interest is short and the meetings are in person only, so this segment covers who should engage and by when.

AMLA will organise sectoral roundtables on simplified customer due diligence, held in person in Frankfurt am Main between 9 November and 2 December 2026.
Expressions of interest must be submitted by 18 October 2026 at 23h59 CEST.
Feedback from the roundtables will inform draft guidelines on proportionate application of simplified CDD across the EU.
The CSSF strongly encourages Luxembourg professionals and their representative bodies to participate.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 10 claims 16 Oct 2026

Puerto Rico bank chairman gets 62 months for $23.6 million fraud scheme

The former board chairman and co-owner of Nodus International Bank, a Puerto Rican International Banking Entity, was sentenced to 62 months in prison for a wire fraud conspiracy that drained the bank of more than $23.6 million and contributed to its collapse. The DOJ account details the mechanics of the scheme and its regulatory concealment.

Ramirez was sentenced to 62 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and forfeiture of approximately $13.6 million.
From 2017 to 2023 Ramirez conspired to invest more than $11 million of Nodus Bank's funds in a Miami-based lender for his own and a co-conspirator's benefit.
Between January 2018 and September 2021 Ramirez induced the bank's board to purchase at least 47 promissory notes totaling approximately $25.3 million from a company he jointly owned.
On April 28, 2023, without OCIF authorization, Ramirez caused Nodus Bank to purchase a loan portfolio totaling approximately $26 million, most of it delinquent or nonperforming.
The DOJ states Ramirez's actions caused Nodus Bank to lose at least $23,613,371.

Source document

play

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 17 claims 16 Oct 2026

Ransomware Remediation Firm Owner Charged With Secretly Paying Hackers, Overbilling Clients

DOJ charged MonsterCloud owner Zohar Pinhasi with wire fraud after alleging he told clients he could decrypt ransomware without paying attackers, while secretly negotiating and paying the ransoms himself and marking up the cost dramatically. The indictment details a specific $8,200 ransom payment billed to a client at $150,000, illustrating the alleged margin across the scheme.

Pinhasi faces two counts of wire fraud and one count of wire fraud conspiracy, each carrying a maximum 20-year penalty.
The indictment alleges that in or around August 2023, Pinhasi paid a cybercriminal approximately $8,200 and charged the client approximately $150,000.
Prosecutors say Pinhasi charged MonsterCloud clients more than $19 million over the course of the alleged scheme.
The indictment alleges Pinhasi paid more than $8 million in ransom payments to cybercriminals while telling clients he avoided paying ransoms.
The FBI and CISA have issued joint guidance advising against paying ransoms, stating it does not guarantee data decryption or prevent leaks.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 19 claims 16 Oct 2026

Dual-National Mule Network Leader Pleads Guilty in $7 Million Laundering Scheme

A Ukrainian-Russian dual citizen has pleaded guilty to leading an international money laundering operation that used thousands of deceived U.S. residents as money mules to move stolen funds abroad. The case illustrates how cybercrime proceeds are laundered through layered infrastructure and victims unwittingly recruited as intermediaries.

YMCO recruited over 15,000 U.S.-based money mules to launder at least $10 million stolen from over 750 U.S. bank accounts.
Korniev admitted YMCO was responsible for over $14.7 million in actual and intended losses by confirmed victims.
He admitted intending to launder over $9.7 million from cybercriminals and having laundered at least $7 million.
Korniev faces a minimum penalty of two years and a maximum of 50 years in prison, with sentencing set for a later date.
Four other individuals previously convicted in the YMCO scheme received sentences ranging from around 37 to 63 months and were ordered to pay over $9.1 million in restitution each.

Source document

play

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 15 claims 16 Oct 2026

Oklahoma chiropractor gets 14 years for $30 million health care fraud scheme

A federal jury conviction following a 12-day trial has resulted in a 14-year prison sentence for an Oklahoma DME company owner. The case illustrates how telemedicine networks, shell marketing firms and unenrolled billing entities were combined to extract payments from federal health programs serving seniors, service members and veterans.

Loftis was sentenced to 14 years in prison after a 12-day jury trial that ended in July 2026.
Loftis and co-conspirators submitted over $30 million in false and fraudulent claims and were paid over $8 million.
Loftis paid over a million dollars in illegal kickbacks, including through a shell marketing company, to marketers, telemedicine companies and a call center.
The scheme used sham doctors' orders generated by telemedicine providers who often never spoke to beneficiaries, including one case billing eight braces for a single beneficiary.
Loftis was ordered to pay over $8 million in restitution and to forfeit over $560,000.

Source document

play

SFC Hong Kong Source document ↗

SFC Hong Kong Financial Crime ✓ 12 claims 16 Oct 2026

SFC to hold two AML/CFT webinars for intermediaries on 12-13 November 2026

The SFC has announced a two-session AML/CFT webinar covering regulatory updates, supervisory observations, scam typologies and suspicious transaction reporting feedback. Compliance officers and management with AML/CFT responsibility should note the enrolment deadline and the firm-level cap on attendee numbers before registering.

The SFC will host AML/CFT webinar sessions on 12 and 13 November 2026 via Zoom.
Each firm may submit only one enrolment form, due by 27 October 2026.
Enrolment is capped at a maximum of two representatives per firm.
Places are allocated first-come, first-served, with first nominees prioritised ahead of second nominees.
Attendees completing the whole session can earn 2.5 Continuous Professional Training hours.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 11 claims 16 Oct 2026

Tennessee Counseling Center Owner Sentenced for Employment Tax Fraud

A DOJ press release details the sentencing of a former Tennessee counseling center owner for willfully failing to remit withheld employment taxes and failing to file required quarterly returns over a five-year period. The case, prosecuted by the newly formed National Fraud Enforcement Division, illustrates continuing federal enforcement priority on payroll tax withholding failures by small business owners.

Mari Alexander was sentenced to 3 years' probation and ordered to pay $1,048,840 in restitution to the United States.
From 2015 through 2020, she willfully failed to pay over to the IRS payroll taxes withheld from employees of her Tennessee counseling center.
She failed to file more than 20 quarterly employment tax returns with the IRS during that period.
Alexander pleaded guilty on April 15, 2026, to one count of willful failure to account for and pay over employment taxes.
IRS Criminal Investigation investigated the case, which was prosecuted by the National Fraud Enforcement Division's Tax Section.

Source document

play

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 18 claims 16 Oct 2026

Texas man indicted over $6.9M false tax-refund scheme using pandemic credits

A Western District of Texas grand jury has charged an Austin tax preparer with conspiring to file nine false refund claims built on fabricated wage figures and pandemic-era tax credits. The case shows how the Justice Department's new Fraud Division is pursuing COVID-relief credit abuse, and how a co-conspirator's earlier guilty plea sets up the preparer's prosecution.

The indictment was returned on September 15, 2026 in the Western District of Texas against John Labee of Austin.
Nine false returns for Divine Grinde claimed the Employee Retention Credit and Sick and Family Leave Credit on fabricated wage and tax figures, for a business with no employees.
The fraudulent claims sought approximately $6.9 million, of which the IRS paid over $1.1 million.
Co-conspirator Andrea Dotson pleaded guilty on March 10, 2026 for her role in the offense.
Labee faces a maximum of 10 years for conspiring to file false claims and 5 years for each count of filing false claims.

Source document

play

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 13 claims 16 Oct 2026

Illinois woman gets 13 months for $3.5 million COVID tax credit fraud scheme

A federal sentencing confirms the scale of ongoing pandemic-era tax credit fraud enforcement. This item covers the September 2026 sentencing of an Illinois woman who conspired to file false Employee Retention Credit and Sick and Family Leave Credit claims, detailing the amounts claimed, paid, and the restitution now owed.

Lakeibia Fannin was sentenced on September 25, 2026, to 13 months in prison for conspiracy to defraud the government with respect to claims.
Fannin claimed more than $3.5 million in fraudulent COVID-19 tax credit refunds, of which more than $1.4 million was actually paid.
Co-conspirator Candies Goode-McCoy was sentenced in April 2026 to 54 months in prison for her role in the same scheme.
U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon ordered Fannin to serve three years of supervised release and pay $1,455,835.24 in restitution.
Fannin used proceeds for personal benefit, including vacations, a cruise, jewelry, designer clothes and a car.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 14 claims 16 Oct 2026

Kansas software CEO gets 19 years for $1bn telemedicine Medicare fraud scheme

DOJ sentencing release covering the conclusion of a telemedicine fraud case affecting over 346,000 Medicare beneficiaries. Relevant to compliance teams at telehealth platforms, DME suppliers and pharmacies screening for kickback and billing integrity risk, and to health insurers refining audit controls against sham doctors' orders.

Brett Blackman, 43, of Johnson County, Kansas, was sentenced to 19 years in prison after a 23-day jury trial ending in April 2026.
DME suppliers and pharmacies paying kickbacks billed Medicare and other insurers more than $1 billion, of which insurers paid out more than $450 million.
Medicare was fraudulently billed for orthotic braces for more than 346,000 beneficiaries, with at least 21 orthotics billed for over 1,200 of them.
Co-defendant Gary Cox was sentenced to 15 years in prison in December 2025.
Blackman's restitution and forfeiture obligations will be determined by the court at a later date.

Source document

play

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 20 claims 16 Oct 2026

Minnesota staffing firm owner and son indicted over employment tax and wire fraud

A federal grand jury in Minnesota has charged a staffing agency owner and his son with willfully failing to pay over employment taxes and conspiring to commit wire fraud by faking workers' compensation certificates. The case shows how the DOJ's new Fraud Division is pairing payroll-tax enforcement with client-facing fraud allegations against a single business.

Ku Kelvin Vue and Travis Vue are charged with willfully failing to collect and pay over employment taxes from Q3 2020 through Q2 2022 and with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
The indictment alleges UniSelect did not maintain workers' compensation coverage and that the Vues created false policy certificates to deceive clients.
Both defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison on the wire fraud conspiracy count and five years on each employment-tax count.
Travis Vue is additionally charged with filing a false 2020 return reporting zero wages and faces up to three years for that count.
IRS Criminal Investigation is investigating; the Fraud Division's Tax Section is prosecuting.

Source document

0:15

National Crime Agency UK Source document ↗

United Kingdom National Crime Agency UK Financial Crime ✓ 27 claims 16 Oct 2026

NCA-hosted operation arrests almost 30 fraud suspects, strips 3.7 million accounts

The NCA brought more than 100 law enforcement and technology staff to London for a week of coordinated action against fraud run out of West Africa. Arrests landed in Ghana and Nigeria, Meta pulled millions of accounts, and private partners flagged $11 million in potentially freezable funds. For compliance teams, it maps the public-private model now being used against investment and impersonation fraud.

Almost 30 suspected scammers were arrested, primarily in Ghana and Nigeria, during the week of 6 to 9 October 2026.
Meta removed 3.7 million profiles, Pages and Groups, and private sector partners identified $11 million in potentially freezable funds.
Nineteen people were arrested and 303 devices seized in Sasaabi, Accra region, with 117 suspected trafficking victims identified; nine were arrested across Delta State, Nigeria.
Over 1,110 Facebook and Instagram accounts linked to Report Fraud data were disabled, alongside over 490 Facebook accounts, over 490 ad accounts and over 380 scam domains.
The event drew 15 law enforcement agencies and 15 companies including Meta, Microsoft and Google, and was funded by the Home Office Integrated Security Fund.

Source document

0:15

US Federal Trade Commission — press releases Source document ↗

United States US Federal Trade Commission — press releases Financial Crime ✓ 15 claims 16 Oct 2026

FTC distributes $9.8m to 65,022 consumers over Walmart wire-transfer fraud failures

The FTC is distributing refunds to consumers who lost money to scammers routing fraud-induced transfers through Walmart's wire services. The payments stem from a June 2025 settlement in which Walmart was accused of inadequate anti-fraud controls, training and customer warnings. This segment covers who gets paid, the deadline to cash checks, and the conduct obligations the settlement imposed.

The FTC is sending payments totaling more than $9.8 million to 65,022 affected consumers.
The redress stems from Walmart's June 2025 settlement over alleged failure to stop scammers using its wire-transfer services.
The settlement requires Walmart to take appropriate actions to detect and prevent fraud-induced money transfers.
Recipients must cash their checks within 90 days, and Rust Consulting Inc. administers the payments.
The FTC said its actions led to more than $435 million in consumer redress across the country in 2025.

Source document

play

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 18 claims 16 Oct 2026

Russian national extradited from Sweden to New York over chips bound for Russia

The DOJ charged a Russian national extradited from Sweden with running a procurement network that routed US-made dual-use electronic components to Russia through Hong Kong front companies. The complaint spans conduct from March 2022 to April 2023 and carries three conspiracy counts. For anyone screening distributors in third-country transshipment hubs, the fact pattern is the point.

Suvorov was extradited from Sweden to the Northern District of New York on Oct. 15, 2026, with an initial appearance expected Oct. 16 in Albany.
The complaint alleges he maintained Hong Kong front companies, including GS Group Limited, to order US components while hiding that end users were in Russia.
Conduct is alleged to span roughly March 2022 to April 2023, with some components usable in military communication, radar and precision-location systems.
The three counts carry maximum penalties of up to 20 years (money laundering), five years (outbound smuggling) and 20 years (Export Control Reform Act violation).
The FBI and the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security are investigating the case.

Source document

0:15

UN — press releases Source document ↗

Global UN — press releases Financial Crime ✓ 13 claims 16 Oct 2026

UN 1267 Committee amends three ISIL and Al-Qaida sanctions entries, including TTP

The Security Council's 1267/1989/2253 Committee amended three entries on its ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List on 15 October 2026. Two are individuals and one is an entity. For sanctions screening teams this is a routine but mandatory list refresh: the underlying measures are unchanged, but identifier data on these listings has moved, which is what filter logic actually keys on.

The Committee amended entries QDi.082 (Mounir el Motassadeq), QDi.427 (Noor Wali Mehsud) and QDe.132 (Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan) on 15 October 2026.
All three remain subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of resolution 2734 (2024) under Chapter VII.
The TTP entity entry now records Noor Wali Mehsud as leader, with the previous reference to Maulana Fazlullah struck out.
Updated narrative summaries and the revised Consolidated List are accessible on the Committee's website.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 15 claims 15 Oct 2026

DOJ and HHS-OIG make the Fraud Division the single door for criminal health care self-disclosures

The Justice Department's National Fraud Enforcement Division and HHS-OIG have resolved a long-standing dual-reporting problem for health care fraud. A single disclosure to the Fraud Division now carries the benefits of both DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy and the OIG Self-Disclosure Protocol. This segment covers what changed, how the two agencies divided criminal from civil conduct, and the trap for firms that disclose only to OIG.

One disclosure to the Fraud Division's Health Care Fraud Section now automatically confers HHS-OIG SDP benefits, with no additional OIG portal submission required.
HHS-OIG updated its SDP to state criminal conduct should go to DOJ; disclosing only to OIG generally will not qualify a company for a declination.
The Fraud Division was created on 7 April 2026; its Health Care Fraud Section runs nine strike forces and has charged more than 6,200 defendants since 2007.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 19 claims 15 Oct 2026

DOJ indicts construction firm owner, three employees over $5m payroll tax and loan fraud

A federal grand jury has charged Arthur Nelson and three associates tied to his Brooklyn, later New Jersey, construction subcontracting companies with a multi-year scheme spanning employment tax evasion, false corporate filings, undisclosed foreign accounts and fraudulent loan applications. This segment breaks down who is charged with what, the exposure each faces, and where the financial-crime risk sits for lenders and sureties.

Four defendants charged in EDNY over a scheme running April 2017 to May 2024 involving at least approximately $5 million in unreported wages.
Nelson allegedly underreported business gross receipts by approximately $13 million and faces two FBAR counts; wire fraud conspiracy carries a 20-year maximum.
A second scheme allegedly submitted false financial documents to lenders and surety providers; Devocion also charged with grand-jury obstruction.

Source document

play

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 22 claims 15 Oct 2026

DOJ charges three Mexican citizens over $74M IRS tax refund fraud scheme

An unsealed federal indictment accuses two brothers and a third man of running a long-running scheme that exploited the IRS's Individual Taxpayer Identification Number system to extract more than $74 million in fraudulent tax refunds. The case shows how identity documents and check-cashing routes convert benefit-program vulnerabilities into cash, and sits inside the new Fraud Division's enforcement push.

Three Mexican citizens charged with a scheme to defraud the IRS of over $74 million via fraudulent tax returns filed under false ITINs.
The co-conspirators allegedly cashed more than 16,000 U.S. Treasury refund checks through a check-cashing company from 2019 to the present.
Fraud and money laundering counts carry maximum 20-year sentences; two defendants also face immigration false-statement charges up to 15 years.

Source document

0:15

UN News — global perspective Source document ↗

United States UN News — global perspective Financial Crime ✓ 24 claims 15 Oct 2026

US sanctions International Criminal Court as an institution, pledges to ban transactions

Washington has moved from sanctioning individual ICC judges and prosecutors to designating the court itself, with the Secretary of State promising to ban transactions with the institution. This segment covers what the escalation means for banks and intermediaries that process payments for, or cooperate with, the court, and the pressure now placed on allied jurisdictions.

The US sanctioned the ICC as an institution on 9 October 2026, adding to measures already in place against 13 judges and prosecutors.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged to ban transactions with the court and said Washington expects allies to 'rein in the court'.
UN Secretary-General Guterres condemned the move as a 'serious blow'; the UN reaffirmed cooperation under the relationship agreement approved on 13 September 2004.

Source document

play

International Criminal Court Source document ↗

United States International Criminal Court Financial Crime ✓ 18 claims 15 Oct 2026

ICC rejects US sanctions imposed on the Court as an institution

The International Criminal Court has publicly rejected US sanctions imposed on the institution itself, an escalation beyond earlier measures against individual officials. The statement matters less for its condemnation than for what it asks: the Court is turning to its States Parties to secure the means to keep functioning. For firms, the live question is sanctions exposure when dealing with an ICC under US designation.

The United States has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court as an institution, which the Court calls an unprecedented step.
The institutional measure follows earlier designations against thirteen ICC judges and prosecutors, according to the statement.
President Tomoko Akane said the Court will continue to discharge its mandate with independence and impartiality, acting only on law and evidence.
The Court calls on its 125 States Parties to take concrete action, including ensuring it has the necessary means to continue its work.
The statement says it has made considerable efforts, with States Parties, to ensure the continuity and resilience of its activities.

Source document

0:15

International Criminal Court Source document ↗

United States International Criminal Court Financial Crime ✓ 14 claims 15 Oct 2026

ICC victims fund warns US sanctions on court threaten reparations financial channels

The ICC's Trust Fund for Victims has responded to US sanctions imposed on the court, warning that financial channels, services and partnerships underpinning reparations and victim assistance are at risk of disruption. For banks and corporates with any exposure to ICC-linked payments or donations, this segment flags where a designation against an international body collides with ordinary counterparty and correspondent-banking decisions.

The Trust Fund for Victims warns US sanctions imposed on the ICC on 9 October 2026 may disrupt financial channels, services and partnerships behind its reparative mandate.
Affected programmes include reparations and assistance for physical, psychosocial and socio-economic rehabilitation, education, peacebuilding and memorialisation.
The Fund appealed directly to states, corporations and individuals to renew financial support for victims and the ICC's reparative mandate.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 15 claims 15 Oct 2026

Bosnian arms dealer gets 60 months for brokering North Korean missile sale

A District of New Mexico sentencing closes a case built on 2020 negotiations to broker anti-aircraft missiles out of North Korea. For sanctions and export-control teams it is a clean illustration of how US jurisdiction attaches to brokering and attempt conduct by a foreign national, even when no goods ever move.

Micev was sentenced to 60 months after pleading guilty under IEEPA and the North Korea Sanctions Regulations.
Conduct involved brokering SA-18 Igla surface-to-air missiles from North Korea without OFAC authorisation; the deal fell through over price.
The case was built on 2020 conduct including falsified documentation and a meeting in Ankara, Turkey; no missiles were delivered.

Source document

0:15

DOJ Criminal Division Source document ↗

United States DOJ Criminal Division Financial Crime ✓ 25 claims 15 Oct 2026

DOJ Fraud Division's first national tax surge brings actions against 76 defendants over $490M

The Justice Department's newly created National Fraud Enforcement Division ran its first coordinated tax-fraud push between early September and mid-October 2026. This segment covers who was charged, the structure of the surge, and the recurring fraud typologies — pandemic-era credits, sham trusts and preparer schemes — that compliance and financial-crime teams should expect to see sustained.

First-ever National Tax Enforcement Surge produced actions against 76 defendants with estimated intended loss exceeding $490,000,000.
23 new-charge actions hit 31 defendants (over $350M intended loss); around 39 trials, pleas and sentencings affected another 45 defendants (nearly $140M).
Recurring typologies include fake COVID-19 credits, fuel-tax refunds, sham trust shelters, and ITIN-based Treasury check fraud.

Source document

Regulatory news and audio briefings from financial regulators worldwide — financial crime, AML, sanctions, fraud, digital assets and compliance

Regulatory heat map

Filtered