Former US Congressman Faces 13 Years in Jail

According to this post on IBN Live a former US Congressman William Jefferson has been sentenced to 13 years in jail after being found guilty in August of collecting bribes for personal interests after police found $90,000 stored in his freezer.

Jefferson lost his seat in 2008 elections after voters were completely turned off by all the indictments of bribery and money laundering. In exchange for the bribes Jefferson allegedly led business operations in Africa that included telecommunication deals with countries such as Ghana and Nigeria.

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How will the CARD Act impact AML regulations?

Recently, the prepaid industry has been under heavy scrutiny and with the addition of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility and Disclosure Act going into effect on February 22, 2010 even more provisions will apply to gift certificates, store gift cards and general-use prepaid cards. This article from Bankrate.com highlights how expiration and inactivity fees, for example, will be very limited. Customers can not incur inactivity fees on gift cards unless they go unused for a period of over 12 months.

There are however, certain fees that the CARD Act does not protect from like upfront issuance and sales fees. One aspect of fees that the CARD Act is particularly aiming to eliminate is expiration fees. The ACT demands that cards not expire for 5 years after its issuance; many gift cards at this time expire after 1 or 2 years.

What sort of changes do you foresee for AML regulations in the prepaid industry with these new provisions going into effect early next year?

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Millionaire Guilty of Money Laundering Charhe

According to this post on isleofman.com 69 year old Trevor Baines has been found guilty of money laundering. The prosecution claimed that Mr. Baines knew the origin of the $175 million he received through the Isle of Man Bank, which was the result of a massive fraud on US shareholders. Although he and his wife denied that they knew how the money was obtained, they both have been charged.

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AMLAC 2009 Speaker Profile: Rachel Rojas, Supervisory Special Agent, FBI

Rachel Rojas
Supervisory Special Agent
FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was forced to reallocate its manpower in New York to deal with recent frauds involving subprime mortgages, auction-rate securities and Madoff, who prosecutors said confessed this month to bilking investors out of $50 billion, FBI official David Cardona said in an interview.

“We have to work those cases which we think pose the greatest threat,” he said. “In this case, it’s a threat to the financial system and Wall Street.”

Special Agent Rachel Rojas, who once worked on tracing terrorist financing and al-Qaeda, now oversees 15 agents investigating mortgage fraud, said Cardona, a career agent with 23 years at the bureau. He declined to say how many other agents he has reassigned from anti-terror work to financial crimes.

Rojas heads one of two such mortgage-fraud squads that work with federal prosecutors in Brooklyn and Manhattan and other federal agencies.

Bio courtesy of Bloomberg.com

Don't miss Rachel Rojas speak on Understanding the Latest Law Enforcement Initiatives for
Identifying Trends and Preventing Fraud at the AMLAC Conference in NY from October 19-21.

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New Jersey comes top for anti-money laundering compliance

According to this post on the Wealth Bulletin New Jersey has received praise from the International Monetary Fund for being top for anti-money laundering compliance. The report which was published by the IMF states that NJ has put in place a "comprehensive and robust" framework for combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Now that we know who's on top it would be interesting to see what state came out at the bottom of the list.

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Owner of Diamond Ventures Arrested for Wire Fraud and Money Laundering

According to this article in the Herald Tribune Beau Diamond from a Sarasota based Diamond Ventures group was recently charged with money laundering and wire fraud. Officials claim that he operated his venture like a Ponzi scheme, using investors' money to make profit payments to other investors and collecting about $38 million from over 200 people. $6.6 million of those funds were used for personal expenditures including a waterfront condominium, a Lamborghini Gallardo, and vacations. The FBI have been investigating Beau since early January.

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AMLAC 2009 Speaker Profile: Suzanne Williams, Federal Reserve Board

Suzanne Williams
Manager of the BSA/AML Risk Section of the Division of
Banking Supervision and Regulation
Board of Governors of The Federal Reserve System

Suzanne Williams is the Manager of the Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) Risk Section of the Division of Banking Supervision and Regulation at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. In this position, she works with Reserve Bank and Board staff in designing and implementing supervisory strategies to address significant BSA/AML issues, including related enforcement actions, when appropriate. Ms. Williams develops BSA/AML policy guidance for financial institutions and interagency examination procedures, in coordination with other relevant federal and state government agencies, and conducts frequent industry outreach on BSA/AML matters.

Don't miss Suzanne speak on Procedures for Regulatory Compliance for Prepaid Cards at the AMLAC Conference in NY from October 19-21.

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Park Rapids Man is Indicted on Counts of Wire Fraud and Money Laundering

According to this post on the Park Rapid Enterprise a 36 year old man who is licensed in real estate from Park Rapids has been charged with wire fraud, money laundering, and marijuana charges by a federal grand jury.

Eric Moen allegedly misrepresented the employment status of a borrower and obtained funds in connection with the mortgage of the home. Moen also transferred more than $640,000 from the mortgage company to the home, and pocketed nearly $15,000.

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First Indictment is Handed in Huge NJ Corruption Scandal

According to this report on MyFoxNy the federal grand jury has handed down the first indictment in the huge NJ corruption-money laundering scandal. The prosecutors have charged Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Baldini and Edward Cheatam with using their power to extort money from an undercover government witness posing as a developer.

These two officials were among 44 other rabbis and local elected politicians that were involved in the huge corruption scandal. Three mayors including Peter Cammarano of Hoboken, Dennis Elwell of Secaucus, Anthony Suarez of Ridgefield were also arrested. We'll keep posting late breaking news about this corruption scandal as it comes right on this blog so stay tuned.

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Money Laudering Case Gets a little more Complicated

This latest blog post in the NY Times discusses how Mr. Krane, a Hollywood tax lawyer, has recently been charged with money laundering in what was proved to be an illegal tax shelter that he helped setup for the investor Haim Saban and also a passport fraud charge. What's intersting about thsi case is that when Mr. Krane showed up Monday morning for a bail hearing, his lawyer explained in court that friends allowed him to use their identities “for the purpose of protecting Mr. Krane’s life.” The case for the passport fraud charge is scheduled for this fall, but this case has certainly taking a strange turn.

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AMLAC 2009 Speaker Profile: Jeffery A. Neiman

Jeffery A. Neiman
Assistant United States Attorney
United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Florida

Jeffrey A. Neiman is an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida where he is assigned to the Economic Crimes Section in Fort Lauderdale. As an AUSA, Mr. Neiman has prosecuted numerous white collar cases involving securities, mortgage, and healthcare fraud, tax offenses, and other corporate crimes.

Following law school, Mr. Neiman joined the United States Department of Justice through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. At the Justice Department, Mr. Neiman worked as a Trial Attorney both in the Tax Division and in the Fraud Section of the Criminal Division in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Neiman has experience handling complex, high-profile fraud cases. Most recently, Mr. Neiman helped obtain the deferred prosecution agreement with Switzerland's largest bank, UBS AG, and he is involved with the prosecution of its managers, bankers, and clients. He has also prosecuted executives at large United States corporations, as well as other businessmen. He has represented the government in several federal jury trials, has directed numerous grand jury investigations, and has litigated countless evidentiary hearings.

Mr. Neiman is a member of the Florida Bar. He received his juris doctorate degree, with honors, from the University of Florida.

Don't miss Jeffery's session Q&A with the Department of Justice at the 2009 AMLAC Conference October 19-21st in NY. Hope to see you all there!

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AMLAC 2009 Speaker Profile: Michael Rufino

Michael Rufino
Senior Vice President, Member Regulation, Sales Practice Review, FINRA

Michael Rufino is Senior Vice President and Deputy of FINRA Member Regulation. Prior to the 2007 merger of NASD and NYSE Member Regulation, he was with the New York Stock Exchange for over 18 years. He spent 10 years working in the Financial/Operational Department in the Division of Member Firm Regulation conducting in-field examinations at the New York Stock Exchange before moving to the Sales Practice Review Unit as an Examination Director. In 2002, Mr. Rufino took over the Sales Practice Review Unit as its Managing Director and has since been promoted to Vice President and Senior Vice President. Mr. Rufino has taken part in many regulatory panels and seminars for the industry on Anti-Money Laundering and played a key role in creating the NYSE’s AML Examination Module and educating the NYSE examination staff on various aspects of the BSA, including the USA PATRIOT Act. Mr. Rufino was the NYSE’s representative on the Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group (BSAAG) and continues to be an active participant in the BSAAG Securities/Futures and BSAAG SAR subcommittees. He has recently participated in the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) initiative on creating guidance on the risk based approach to the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing as part of the working group undertaking this initiative. Mr. Rufino graduated, magna cum laude, from Iona College with a degree in Finance. In addition, he received his M.B.A. with honors in Management Information Systems from Iona.

Bio courtesy of FINRA.

Don't miss Michael's sessions Managing Compliance Requirements for Clearing and Introducing Firms in an Era of Increased Scrutiny and Reduced Resources and REGULATOR INSIGHTS — Avoid Penalties and Optimize Your Firm’s Defenses by Complying with the Latest AML and Fraud Regulations at the 2009 AMLAC Conference October 19-21st in NY. Hope to see you all there!

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Fomer Accountant Admits to Money Laundering

According to this article in philly.com Phillip D'Hedouville, a former financial account manager, has admitted to stealign roughly $1.2 million by keeping clients' money that were promised to be invested in the stock market.

Prosecutors said that the scheme operated from August 2006 to January 2008, and Phillip now faces up to 30 years in prison as he pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of mail fraud and money laundering.

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NY Councilman Admits to Fraud and Money Laundering

The NY Times reports that NY councilman Miguel Martinez has pleaded guilty on three counts of money laundering which involved him misusing funds that were intended for nonprofit organizations.

Each count carries a maximum of 20 years in prison, but prosecutors have brought that number down to 57 to 71 months of prison time. Miguel Martinez admitted to stealing about $106,000 which was intended for several city projects.

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Man Convicted for Using Trojan Virus for Money Laundering

This article in About highlights how Alex Mineev of New Hampshire has pleaded guilty to charges of money laundering after his scheme of using trojans to steal victims' assets. After credentials and logins were stored in the trojans, he used this information to wire the funds into a separate account in Russia. He faces a possible two year prison sentence and restitution that ranges from $40,000 to $120,000 USD.

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FATF Report on Casino Vulnerabilities

If you haven't registered for our upcoming Casino Webinar (Thursday, May 7, 1:00pm EDT), I'd encourage you to do so now.

In case you haven't reviewed it, the Financial Action Task Force released this report highlighting the vulnerabilities of casinos and the gaming sector in March 2009.

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NYC Attorney Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering Charges

According to this article in Forbes that New York City attorney Marc Dreier will plead guilty to charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. Dreier led a law firm that had many prominent celebrity clients, but he was arrested after hedge funds complained that he was stealing funds from them. He faces up to 30 years to life in prison.

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Take our latest poll: Do strict AML regulations hurt the banking system's ability to compete?

Take a couple of seconds to take our latest poll here.

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Former First Lady of Taiwan Admits Laundering $2.2 Million

According to this article in the NY Times Ms. Wu, the former first lady of Taiwan, has admitted on Tuesday to have laundered $2.2 million that she received from a contractor in connection with a government construction project. She does not admit to embezzling money from this fund, but instead claims that the money was a political donation.

This case has sparked media frenzy in Taiwan, and the cable companies have covered every twist and turn.

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