Category: Business & Economy

Thrower alleged that from January 2008 through April 2017, Academy had an underwriting process that led employees to disregard FHA rules and falsely certify compliance with underwriting requirements. Thrower further alleged that, as a result of Academy’s knowingly deficient mortgage underwriting practices, the government paid insurance claims on loans improperly underwritten by Academy.

“Lenders that knowingly cause the government to guarantee loans that are materially deficient put both homeowners and the public fisc at risk,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The settlement announced today is a result of the relator’s efforts to develop this case in litigation and complements the department’s actions to prevent abuse of government programs designed to foster home ownership.” 

A federal grand jury in Manhattan returned an indictment today charging Samuel Bankman-Fried, aka SBF, 30, of Stanford, California, with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission and commit campaign finance violations. The charges in the indictment…

Danske Bank A/S (Danske Bank), a global financial institution headquartered in Denmark, pleaded guilty today and agreed to forfeit $2 billion to resolve the United States’ investigation into Danske Bank’s fraud on U.S. banks. According to court documents, Danske Bank defrauded U.S. banks regarding Danske Bank Estonia’s customers and anti-money laundering controls to facilitate access to the U.S. financial system…

The investigation and enforcement of potential sanctions violations by crypto exchanges is an area of focus in the US at present.  The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control’s (OFAC) recent settlement with Kraken, a global virtual currency exchange, is the most recent OFAC case demonstrating the risks for virtual currency platforms that process transactions without comprehensive…

On November 28, 2022, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) announced a settlement agreement with Payward, Inc., known as Kraken (“Kraken”), a United States-based virtual currency exchange. Kraken agreed to pay $362,158.70 to resolve its potential civil liability for 826 apparent violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (“Apparent Violations”). The settlement amount is significantly less than the…

Stuart Alderoty, General Counsel for Ripple, stated in a tweet that BlockFi’s problem is another regulation by-enforcement success story of the SEC. The counsel asserted that the $100 million enforcement fine that the SEC charged BlockFi contributed to the firm’s bankruptcy. He also raised questions about the $270 million loan outstanding and some unknown amounts owed to BlockFi by FTX….

Please note that Bittrex is a crypto exchange / trading platform. Crypto exchanges are like merchants that sell and trade cryptocurrencies, while cryptocurrencies (like Monero, Bitcoin, ZCash, etc.) are the ‘products’ sold by the merchants. The failure of a merchant does not entail that there is a failure in the product. Cryptocurrency experts recommend that if you are going to…

Prosecutors on Wednesday moved to confiscate $5.4 million from a U.S. bank account belonging to Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeyev, who Washington has accused of financing separatists in eastern Ukraine and Crimea and imposed sanctions on him. (Reuters) Konstantin Malofeyev is the founder of Tsargrad TV, and has been reported in western media to be a regular “consultant” to the Kremlin….

The FTC has temporarily shut down a credit card debt relief scheme operated by Sean Austin, John Steven Huffman, and John Preston Thompson and their affiliated companies that allegedly took millions from people by falsely promising to eliminate or substantially reduce their credit card debt: ACRO SERVICES LLC, a limited liability company, also d/b/a Capital Compliance Solutions, AMERICAN CONSUMER RIGHTS…

On September 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (“Treasury”) published three reports in response to a March 2022 Executive Order concerning the development of digital assets.  The reports address the future of money and payments; implications for consumers, investors, and businesses; and the illicit financing risks of digital assets.  Secretary Yellen described the reports as identifying the challenges…

On August 8, 2022, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) sanctioned virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash for having laundered more than USD 7 billion worth of virtual currency since its founding in 2019.  This includes over USD 455 million worth of stolen virtual currency associated with the Lazarus Group, a “Democratic People’s Republic of…

Mahamat Said Abdel Kani – a top-ranking leader of the mostly-Muslim Séléka militia – pleaded not guilty to all charges, which relate to atrocities carried out in 2013, in the Central African Republic capital, Bangui. Much of the violence stemmed for clashes between Séléka and the mostly-Christian Anti-balaka faction. Occupation Before the crimes were committed, from late 2012 to early…

In a letter dated August 16, 2022, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey addressed FDIC acting chairman Martin Gruenberg to inquire about some recent FDIC actions that came to light by way of whistleblower reporting. Toomey said that the affected parties came forward to reveal that their banks received letters from the FDIC discouraging the bank from doing business with legitimate crypto…

Jun 27, 2022. The European Union’s governing body has published a list of new sanctions against Moscow, accusing Russia of a “continuing war of aggression against Ukraine.” The sixth batch of restrictions since February contains a phased embargo on oil imports, restrictions against some Russian banks and broadcasters, and the blacklisting of people Brussels accuses of war crimes. The Council…

June 25, 2022. A criminal investigation has been opened against Alina Lipp, a German journalist based in the Donbass. She has been covering the Russian-Ukrainian conflict as an independent journalist and has fallen out of favor with the German government. Alina faces up to three years in prison.

2022-06-01. Russia is cutting off more gas supplies to Europe. On Tuesday, the state energy company Gazprom cut off some gas to the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany. This came hours after the EU banned most Russian oil imports. (Democracy Now) Denmark Denmark’s largest energy company said Russia cut off its gas supply Wednesday because it refused to pay in rubles,…