Tag: #MoneyLaundering
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Compliance Program Gap: What HSBC’s $35 Million Penalty Reveals
By Viktor Ha | July 2026 | AML-CAMS Blog TL;DR: On 18 June 2026, the Federal Court ordered HSBC Bank Australia to pay a $35 million penalty after the bank admitted to systemic failures in protecting customers from scams. The case was brought under the ePayments Code, not the AML/CTF Act, but the underlying failure… Read more
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AML Compliance Culture Failure: Tabcorp and AUSTRAC’s Return
By Viktor Ha | June 2026 | AML-CAMS Blog The Quote That Defines an AML Compliance Culture Failure In March 2017, AUSTRAC CEO Paul Jevtovic addressed the media after the Federal Court ordered Tabcorp to pay a $45 million civil penalty for 108 contraventions of the AML/CTF Act over five years. His words were precise:… Read more
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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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When the Audit Passes and the Problem Doesn’t: The Airwallex AUSTRAC Story
By Viktor Ha | April 2026 | AML-CAMS Blog Airwallex had already been audited. AUSTRAC looked at their program in 2024. An independent external reviewer followed up in 2025 and signed off — controls in place, systems adequate, no major concerns. Then, on 22 January 2026, AUSTRAC ordered another external audit. This time under section… Read more
