CEO of the Alacer Group. Sharing the latest news in financial crimes and best practices that enable financial institutions to prevent money laundering.
Regardless of the heinous crimes they are suspected of being guilty of committing, society’s gangsters and fraudsters have historically only lost their freedom because of money ...
Richard Paxton
A former employee of the NFT marketplace OpenSea, Nathaniel Chastain of New York, was recently arrested and formally charged with wire fraud, money laundering and insider tradin...
Things move so quickly in the decentralized world that one day a certain product or service is the hottest name in the market and then the next day, “poof!” Entire companies, cr...
One thing I love about cryptocurrency and the whole concept of decentralization, the metaverse and Web-3 is the creativity in which it is moving forward. Just consider the NFT f...
A crime syndicate based in Hong Kong(HK) paid ‘digital mules’ up to $1,000 each to have them open virtual bank accounts in their names, and then give access to those accounts to...
Imaging applying Moore’s Law to the NFT. It would have been hard to imagine if, in 2020, you had told me that over the next two years the tech industry would introduce...
Meanwhile the SEC Expands its Crypto Enforcement Unit On Monday the SEC issued a press release announcing it had added 20 new positions to its Cyber Unit, which has...
The old saying, when one door closes another one opens, is remarkably true, especially if you are a 21st century criminal in constant search of new and more efficient methods to...
A debate is simmering below the surface of the constant hype surrounding cryptocurrency. Is cryptocurrency and especially crypto mining harmful to the environment, or not? ...
The White House recently issued an executive order that, in essence, said the federal government will spend the next few months studying how to address the decentraliz...
Tornado Cash is the perfect name for a cryptocurrency mixer, or what’s also known as a tumbler. What does a mixer do? It digitally stirs, for example, a customer’s Bitcoins...
The Game Stock (GME) stock scandal, which played itself out publicly in a subreddit channel called Wall Street Bets (WSB), was originally labeled by the medi...
Did you know that one of the film production companies behind the movie, The Wolf of Wall Street, was actually a front for a money laundering operation masterminded by a ma...
President Biden signs broad executive order laying out national policy for digital assets The Biden administration just did what I have been predicting it would do ...
As I mentioned last week, I am a big fan of a decentralized world, or what some would call the metaverse, which includes decentralized finance (DeFi) and its backbone, cryptocur...
The cryptocurrency boom is the modern era’s equivalent of the gold rush. For those that have followed my writings, that statement probably sounds like a contradiction. For the p...
Since Bitcoin’s emergence as the world’s first decentralized and therefore unregulated currency, the cryptocurrency marketplace has proven itself a money laundering paradise for...
As you may have heard, considering it is headline news just about everywhere and the accused have become the focus of countless new social media memes, but Ilya Lichtenstein and...
Are NFTs about to fall out of vogue? That was, what, maybe a year long run? What a drag, eh? A technology and art cross-innovation, the NFT was unique and beautiful in its uglin...
The cryptocurrency marketplace is a mess right now. Just a couple of months ago Bitcoin was surging towards an unthinkable value of $80k (USD) per coin with crypto enthusiasts a...
Cryptocurrency has evolved to the point where a subset of FINcriminals now own digital street cred for inventing crimes unique to cryptocurrency. Case in point, the Rug Pull, a ...
LinksDAO is a startup golf venture that claims it is on a mission to create the modern golf and leisure club. That is so vague. Perhaps we should just pay attention to this...
Once known as the ancient Greeks’ gateway to the unknown world and later as a tax haven for the new world’s wealthy, the country of Gibraltar formally cleansed itself of its mon...
2021 is coming to a close, and while the vast majority of us are out shopping for last-minute gifts or planning family dinners and wrapping presents, criminals are working. Orga...
Did you know that during his tenure President Franklin D. Roosevelt publicly called out some of America’s wealthiest citizens for tax evasion? During the summer of 1937, the for...
Did you know that in 2020 the United States’ Internal Revenue Service (IRS) seized over $3.5 billion in cryptocurrency assets? You read that correctly, that is $3.5 billion and ...
The CryptoWars have officially commenced. Perhaps war is too strong of a term, but if you ask a crypto-fan I’m guessing they are feeling a little shell shocked by the news from ...
Is Cyber Monday the start of the final crypto cycle for money launderers? Last week the Indian government announced it was taking measures to ban private cryptocurr...
An old crime trend with a new, digital twist is sweeping the nation, that of SUVs full of organized crooks parking in front of a Target, for example, running in the store and st...
The term ‘metaverse’ became a household word recently thanks to Facebook, which has re-branded itself as Meta! Now that the re-brand is complete, Mark Zuckerberg and his cr...
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum challenge the dynamic financial structures owned by the powerful and wealthy, making crypto perhaps one of the most interesting topics...
Last week I provided a snapshot into the cryptocurrency situation as it exists on the Asian Continent and, as promised, this week’s post provides a similar snapshot of...
Last week I published a story that focused on a future that cryptocurrency fans, by and large, don’t want to acknowledge. That is, a future full of government regulati...
The cryptocurrency market is riding at an all-time high right now in terms of its visibility and in some cases, coin prices. For example, Bitcoin is now trading above $55,000 af...
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists(ICIJ) just released what it is calling, The Pandora Papers, a follow up to the group’s Panama Papers, which were publis...
Last week China instituted a blanket ban on all cryptocurrency transactions and mining, a move that could irreparably damage the cryptocurrency market worldwide and its viabilit...
I’ll be as transparent as possible here in letting you know that I have never used a dating app. I met my wife the old-fashioned way — face to face. The Tinder world we live in ...
First, let me go on record by stating I am a fan of cryptocurrency. That being said, what is happening in El Salvador is absolutely crazy. For those that don’t know, on Septembe...
In business and in life I subscribe to the theory that anything that sounds too good to be true typically is. Such is the case today with Ikea, one of the world’s most belo...
NFTs are hot. Sales of NFTs jumped from $13.7 million in the first half of 2020 to $2.5 billion in sales during the first half of 2021. What’s an NFT? NFTs are defined...
Moore’s Law used to guide the technology industry and its evolution, but a number of pundits called Moore’s Law dead years ago, mostly because innovation was moving too fast wit...
Criminals got creative and busy during the Coronavirus pandemic. Go figure! Did you hear about the rampant fraud that took place last year in regards to the billions of governme...
The first season of the Netflix series Ozark was riveting and eye opening for most. My wife and I watched the season 1 premier together, expecting something kind of li...
Savvy criminal busted laundering money stolen from HUD The allure of easy money often takes hold of individuals deemed the most trustworthy. As I have written in past article...
Financial institutions needing to beef up risk compliance efforts next year should start looking for AML candidates now Financial institutions are in scramble mode. Increasin...
Americans travel, shop and conduct business on their smartphones. Banking? Meh. The other day I opened my bank’s mobile app to deposit a check. I love this feature as it save...
In the world of finance, the law of unintended consequences is and always has been a driving force in shaping economic policy The law of unintended consequences states that t...
It’s a high stakes game, and it starts with a call to the bank that might go something like this: “Hi, this is Herb Green. I own the Cannabis Club in Seattle and was just follow...
Methodology developed by the Japanese in the 1950s taps the collective power of groups to create corporate excellence I’ve been enthusiastically talking about (and using) the...
Analysts predict the robo-advisor market could grow to $2.2 trillion in assets under management by 2020 Before Bernie Sanders blazed his way into the hearts of millions, the ...
— Excerpt from an article published at www.cutimes.com on August 4, 2016. The list of potential crimes taking place within a used car dealership could include, but ...
Ruling contradicts federal money laundering statutes This week, financial criminals are likely strategizing money laundering schemes involving Bitcoin. On Monday, a Florida j...
If you have to search for a salesperson on a used car lot, a mental trigger should go off that something is amiss Ever wondered where the all the salespeople were on a used c...
The Panama Papers data leak rocked the financial world by lifting the veil on the secret financial dealings of world leaders, relatives of world leaders, celebrities and other w...
Both candidates are fighting against accusations of corruption, fairly or unfairly thrown at them by the opposition party Last fall we published a video that featured data ga...
When the victims of money laundering crimes are students, our entire education system is affected Victims of money laundering exist in great numbers and run the gamut from ho...
Friendly, but big stakes betting amongst a few PGA Tour players raises questions about the potential for financial shenanigans Professional golfer Phil Mickelson (a...
From Simon Cowell to David Cameron’s father, the Panama Papers offer up a rogue’s gallery of wealthy UK citizens Which country/region has seen its highest profile citizens, c...
Banks should embrace process improvements now in order to improve the bottom line and pave a smooth road to the future As the financial industry continues to evolve in the fa...
Regardless of industry, today’s consumer-centric world requires organizations to challenge the status quo and move into a new way of looking at how to better deliver products an...
How much do you really know about your neighbor? In the course of analyzing the ins and outs of financial crimes for the world’s banks, I’ve studied enough cases of money lau...
All eyes should be on the emerging technology’s disruption of the banking technology instead of finding the Bitcoin founder The financial industry is increasingly shadowed by...
The Big Buddha, the nightlife and other reasons drug kings love to stash cash in The Pearl of the Orient Latin American drug cartels have apparently infiltrated Hong Kong wit...
Canadian authorities creative in shutting down financial crimes A few weeks ago, I warned readers about the money laundering avalanche that could be headed straight for our n...
Has Erik Prince fallen from a trusted provider to the U.S. government to a known bad actor? Erik Prince’s real life reads like fiction. Son of a wealthy industrialist, he’s b...
The soft underbelly of rural America provides perfect hiding places for even the most unusual schemers If you want to find bison roaming freely on the prairie or long, dusty ...
If you believe some of today’s headlines, the answer is yes According to a report issued by Transparency International, Canada is one of the least corrupt countries in the wo...
42 major banks have now tested five blockchain technologies If 2015 was the year everyone was talking about blockchain, this will be the year that everyone builds on it. In t...
Banks and the media that covers them are crying wolf on money laundering cases, here’s why that could be bad We’ve all heard the Aesop fable about the ‘boy who cried wolf,’ t...
Is Goldman Sachs in trouble in the tropics? One of its top executives, Tim Leissner, the Singapore-based chairman of Goldman’s Southeast Asia operations, remains under investiga...
Data proves some existing FATF member countries have much deeper AML issues than Israel The worldwide Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering recently announce...
The good, the bad and the ugly of the legal marijuana business With medical marijuana now legal in 23 states and recreational marijuana legal in Colorado, Washington, Alaska ...
Banking the proceeds remains a crap shoot for legal pot shops Despite the fact that federal statutes make it illegal, a growing number of states (23 and the District of Colum...
Mexico develops a U.S. dollar transfer business to thwart money laundering and encourage international commerce Bloomberg Business broke the news last week that Mex...
When discussing money laundering, I rarely dig into the details of the victims. Instead, I’ve focused on the actions and possible motives of the criminals, the size of their cri...
Turns out, it’s not that difficult I frequently talk about money laundering and how financial services industries are required to guard against it, but I’m consistently asked...
Did Kate del Castillo Go Gangster to Launch Tequila Brand? Kicking off the New Year actor Sean Penn, best known for his roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Milk&...
[Excerpt via American Banker’s BankThink] In addition to anti-money-laundering scandals involving global banks and worldwide organizations such as FIFA that grabbed he...
U.S. applying anti-money laundering rules to digital currencies Digitally encrypted cryptocurrencies are hot, particularly as consumer confidence in the current global money ...
When I was a kid, the Magic 8 Ball was a quirky toy used to tell fortunes or predict the future. The answers to yes-no questions were often vague enough to be accurate...
Thanks to technology, KYC is evolving to Know Your Country To the average American, the acronym KYC probably sounds like a misspelling of the infamous KFC, but those of us in...
5 ways to identify suspicious activity with safe deposit boxes Swiss banks are synonymous with anonymity. But the threats of money laundering and terrorist financing are enou...
Two Secret Service agents, both of whom were members of the Baltimore Silk Road Task Force charged with breaking Silk Road’s ring of illegal online activity ...
When you think of financial fraud, you might envision money laundering activities conducted by members of organized crime syndicates. Or you might think of how a stolen identity...
We talk a lot about money laundering, but exactly what is it and how did it become a popular topic of conversation? According to the U.S. Treasury, money laundering is simply...
5 things you need to know about the fourth anti-money laundering directive underway in the European Union. It isn’t always easy to get multiple stakeholders to agree to chang...
The story unfolding in Poland, with politicians running electoral campaigns based on promises to curb bank profits, could have a profound effect on other countries, dependi...
Know Your Customer (KYC) programs as a risk management tool aren’t all that easy to implement. One bank improved their KYC process and simultaneously saved $1.4 million. It s...
Study shows public perception of corruption is often higher than actual corruption “I think our childish, simplistic view of corruption has become, like a youngster’s fascina...
When we think of risk management within a financial institution, we usually associate it with the operational risks related to fraud, money laundering, damage to reputation, etc...
As a banking behemoth, JPMorgan is frequently the target of lawsuits and allegations of suspicious activities. None of them have proved as problematic as the Lond...
Risk management procedures for financial institutions vary from country to country… and are often thought to be less stringent in areas of the world where the economy is not as ...
The statistics are out and while the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has so far issued fewer fines to banks and other organizations in 2015 as opposed to this ...
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