Tag: #FinancialCrime
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Scam Centres, Crypto Fraud and Money Laundering: Inside the Financial Crime Supply Chain
TL;DR A recent international takedown led to at least 276 arrests and the dismantling of at least nine scam centres used in cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. The case matters because it shows that scam centres are not just rooms full of scammers. They are organised financial crime supply chains linking victim grooming, fake investment platforms, Read more
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The Human Head Problem: What Wynn’s $130M Forfeiture Reveals About Casino AML and Beneficial Ownership
By Viktor Ha | April 2026 | AML-CAMS Blog TL;DR: In September 2024, Wynn Las Vegas forfeited $130 million — the largest criminal forfeiture by a US casino — after admitting it conspired with unlicensed money transmitters and knowingly allowed proxy gambling schemes designed to defeat AML controls. The core failure wasn’t a technology gap Read more
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Two Regulators, One Problem, Opposite Answers: FinCEN vs AUSTRAC
By Viktor Ha | April 2026 | AML-CAMS Blog TL;DR: On 7 April 2026, FinCEN proposed sweeping reforms to US AML programs — less paperwork, more flexibility, higher threshold for enforcement action. Meanwhile, AUSTRAC has spent the past six months ordering compulsory audits, running sector-wide enforcement campaigns, and putting entire industries on notice. Both regulators Read more
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You Can Outsource the Work. You Can’t Outsource the Obligation.
AUSTRAC has filed its first-ever civil penalty proceedings against a registered licensed club. Not a casino. Not a bank. A community club in Sydney’s west with 1,400 poker machines and $4.17 billion in customer deposits over four years. Mount Pritchard District and Community Club — better known as Mounties — is one of the largest Read more
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Swedbank’s Fresh AML Probe: What Happens When Remediation Doesn’t Stick
By Viktor Ha | February 2026 | AML-CAMS Blog A record SEK 4 billion fine. An internal investigation spanning 12 years. Remediation programs across four countries. A former CEO prosecuted. And on 20 February 2026 — just last week — Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen, or FI) announced it will investigate whether Swedbank’s customer due Read more
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Bendigo Bank’s $50M Capital Add-On: Analyzing the APRA & AUSTRAC Joint Enforcement
By Viktor Ha | February 2026 | AML-CAMS Blog When APRA and AUSTRAC jointly announced enforcement action against Bendigo and Adelaide Bank on 17 December 2025, the headline number was AUD 50 million — an operational risk capital add-on that landed effective 1 January 2026. But the number is not the story. The story is Read more
