Category: Financial Crime
TD’s chief compliance officer departs amid US anti-money laundering probe
TD Bank’s (TD.TO), opens new tab chief compliance officer has left the bank, according to a memo sent internally, at a time the Canadian lender faces U.S. regulators and the Justice Department in a probe related to its anti-money laundering program. Monica Kowal, who joined the bank in 2017, left the company this week, and will be replaced by Deputy Chief Compliance Officer Erin Morrow who will report to Chief Risk Officer Ajai Bambawale, according the memo sent in late June, seen by…
Walgreens Stock Tumbles on DOJ Lawsuit Over ‘Millions’ of Alleged Illegal Prescriptions
Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) shares sank Tuesday, the first day of trading since the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday announced a lawsuit accusing the pharmacy chain of dispensing “millions of unlawful prescriptions” that had no legitimate medical purpose. The suit alleges that Walgreens pressured its pharmacists to fill prescriptions quickly, leading to opioids and other medications being given out for prescriptions that had “clear red flags” indicating they were “highly likely to be unlawful.” The U.S. Department of Justice…
Tax evasion: UBS / Credit Suisse to pay a $2.5 billion fine
UBS is reportedly preparing to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to resolve allegations that Credit Suisse violated a prior agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding U.S.-based customers who evaded taxes, according to the Wall Street Journal. In 2023, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee found that Credit Suisse, now owned by UBS, breached its 2014 plea agreement with U.S. authorities by continuing to assist ultra-wealthy Americans in tax evasion and concealment of more than $700 million from the…
Former Virginia Nexus Services Owner Pleads Guilty to Employment Tax Fraud
A Virginia man and former business owner pleaded guilty yesterday to not accounting for and paying employment taxes to the IRS. According to court documents and statements made in court, Richard E. Moore, of Augusta County, was the executive vice president and part owner of Nexus Services Inc., a Verona-based company that offered bond securitization and other services to immigrants detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Moore, who exercised control over Nexus’s business and financial affairs, was responsible for…
Vanguard strikes deal with FDIC over huge holdings in US banks, agrees to new oversight of its investments in some US lenders
Vanguard has bowed to regulatory pressure and agreed to new oversight of its investments in some US lenders, a decision that could have sweeping implications for money managers and banks. The deal, which the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp disclosed on Friday, will allow Vanguard’s funds to continue to be huge shareholders in a wide swath of the country’s banks while also increasing the watchdog’s supervisory power over the $10tn money manager. Vanguard, BlackRock and State Street have amassed large…
UnitedHealth CEO Shooting: Media and police release manhunt pictures of different person
The video, seen below, shows a shooter assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, outside a Manhattan hotel. The manhunt for the shooter is still underway 3 days later. News outlets have been irresponsibly posting images of a suspect wearing similar clothing, but who can be seen to be wearing a different jacket and carrying a dark backpack. The shooter’s backpack is clearly light-colored, and his jacket has no pockets just below the shoulders, while the same is not true of the…
Former Allianz fund manager spared prison time over $7 billion fraud
NEW YORK – A former Allianz fund manager was spared prison time on Friday over his role in a meltdown of private investment funds sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic that caused an estimated $7 billion of investor losses. Gregoire Tournant, 57, of Basalt, Colorado, pleaded guilty in June to two counts of investment adviser fraud. He agreed to give up $17.5 million in ill-gotten gains, including bonuses that were inflated by his fraud. Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the…
S’pore-based Malaysian military contractor ‘Fat Leonard’ who bribed US Navy officers given 15 years’ jail
LOS ANGELES – Leonard Francis, the Malaysian military contractor known as “Fat Leonard”, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Nov 5 for his role in the US Navy’s worst-ever corruption scandal. Francis, 60, was also ordered to pay US$20 million (S$26.3 million) in restitution to the US Navy by a federal judge in San Diego and to forfeit US$35 million in ill-gotten gains, said the US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of California in a statement. Francis,…
Zelensky signs decree to liquidate medical examination commissions amid corruption scandal
President Volodymyr Zelensky on Oct. 22 issued a decree to liquidate medical examination commissions for determining the severity of disabilities by Dec. 31. The decree was released after a meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), which on Oct. 22 discussed violations at medical examination commissions and the fraudulent acquisition of disability status by officials through corruption schemes. Obtaining disability status through medical examination commissions allows evading military service and receiving a higher pension, among other social benefits. According to the decree, working…
Raytheon Company to Pay Over $950M in Connection with Defective Pricing, Foreign Bribery, and Export Control Schemes
Raytheon Company (Raytheon) — a subsidiary of Arlington, Virginia-based defense contractor RTX (formerly known as Raytheon Technologies Corporation) — will pay over $950 million to resolve the Justice Department’s investigations into: (i) a major government fraud scheme involving defective pricing on certain government contracts and (ii) violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and its implementing regulations, the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). Raytheon will enter into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) in…
TD Bank Fined for Crypto Ties with UK and Colombia
According to a report from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) on Oct. 10th, TD Bank’s U.S. wing agreed to pay over $3 billion in penalties. The fine was for failing to properly monitor money laundering activities. The bank has also accepted limits on its future growth in the U.S. FinCEN found that TD Bank facilitated over $1 billion in transfers linked to two crypto exchanges — one based in the United Kingdom and the other in Colombia. TD Bank…
Massive U.S. fine against TD Bank highlights relatively modest penalties in Canada
TORONTO — The more than US$3-billion settlement TD Bank Group has reached with U.S. regulators for its failures to oversee money laundering risks has underlined what some say are relatively weak enforcement options in Canada. Denis Meunier, president of DMeunier Consulting Inc. and a former deputy director of Fintrac, said fines in Canada have to increase significantly to provide adequate deterrence and not become just a cost of doing business. He says the federal government should add substantial fines for…
TD Bank hit with US$3bn fine, pleads guilty to criminal charges
Canada-based financial institution TD Bank has announced its agreement to pay over USD 3 billion, pleading guilty to criminal charges related to money laundering in the US. As detailed by regulators, the fine follows TD Bank’s failure to appropriately monitor money laundering by drug cartels and other criminals, allowing them to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in unlawful funds. In addition, the bank did not enforce sufficient defences against money laundering for nearly 10 years. It did not efficiently…
Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison to be sentenced over crypto fraud
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former cryptocurrency executive Caroline Ellison is set to be sentenced on Tuesday for her role in her imprisoned former boyfriend Sam Bankman-Fried’s theft of about $8 billion in customer funds from the now-bankrupt FTX exchange he founded. Ellison has pleaded guilty to seven felony counts of fraud and conspiracy, and testified as a prosecution witness in the trial of Bankman-Fried, who was convicted of fraud and other charges last year and is serving a 25-year prison…
No criminal charges for US billionaire Carl Icahn, who used company funds to secure personal loans worth billions
US settles with billionaire Carl Icahn for using company to secure personal loans worth billions Billionaire Carl Icahn and his company were charged by U.S. regulators with failing to disclose personal loans worth billions of dollars that were secured using securities of Icahn Enterprises as collateral. Icahn Enterprises and Icahn have agreed to pay $1.5 million and $500,000 in civil penalties, respectively, to settle the charges, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday. The agency said that from at least…
George Santos due in court, expected to plead guilty in fraud case, AP source says
Former U.S. Rep. George Santos is due in court Monday afternoon, where a person familiar with the matter has said the New York Republican is expected to plead guilty to multiple counts in his federal fraud case. The person could not publicly discuss details of the plea and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Santos and his attorneys did not return requests for comment. The case has been set to go to trial early next month. The…