Previous News Updates

September 26, 2006 -- Lady Olga Maitland, the CEO of the International Association of Money Transfer Networks, has asked the US Government to revise the USA PATRIOT ACT, claiming that it is overly burdensome on legitimate money-transfer operators. Click here to view the press release.

September 8, 2006 -- The US Treasury has cut off all direct and indirect access to the US financial system from Bank Saderat, an Iran-based bank that has a line item in its budget to support terrorism. According to the press release issued by the Treasury, hundreds of millions of dollars are transferred each year to terrorist groups such as Hizballah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Click here to read the entire release.

August 29, 2006 -- OFAC has updated its web site, adding four individuals and three entities to its its SDN (specially designated nationals) list, which can be found at this link.

August 16, 2006 -- Brian Ferrell, Chief Counsel of FinCEN, has resigned from the agency to take a job with the compliance department of the Hartford Financial Services Group.  Ferrell, who joined FinCEN about one year ago, will become AVP and Assistant General Counsel at the Hartford, Ct.,-based financial services and insurance firm.  Click here to read the release.

August 14, 2006 --  Todd Love, a  mortgage broker at Seattle Mortgage Advisors, LLC, has pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, according to an Associated Press report published Aug. 12.  According to the story, federal prosecutors said Love admitted to assisting three drug dealers with property investments, despite knowing that cash used as the down payments were the result of drug dealing.  Love has agreed to forfeit $149,500 in cash as part of a $600,000 asset forfeiture, and is facing as much as 20 years in prison.

August 11, 2006 -- FinCEN announced that it has assessed a civil monetary penalty of $25,000 against Deprez Jewelry, a Kentucky-based MSB, for Bank Secrecy Act violations.  According to FinCEN, Deprez Jewelry failed to register as an MSB, and failed to implement an adequate anti-money laundering program.  Deprez Jewelry also was found to have structured financial transactions to avoid the requirement to file Currency Transaction Reports for cash transactions greater than $10,000.  Click here to read the full release.

July 31, 2006 -- According to a July 31 report published by Diamond Intelligence Briefs Online, an Atlanta-area jeweler was indicted by a federal grand jury for his role in a money laundering scheme that allegedly funneled illegal drug profits through his two jewelry stores in the Atlanta area. Toros Seher's jewelry stores, "Chaplin's" and "Chaplin's Midtown," were allegedly used to launder cash drug proceeds, at many times exceeding US $10,000, $20,000, and even $30,000 in single transactions. An undercover investigation found that Seher allegedly didn't report these large cash transactions, knew that the jewelry sales were being used to launder the money from criminal activity, and intentionally failed to fire the required CTR forms.

Seher could face up to 20 years imprisonment on each of the four counts of money laundering or conspiracy to launder money, as well as up to 5 years imprisonment on each count of failing to file a required form required for large cash transactions.

July 28, 2006 – A six-month undercover investigation yielded the indictments of two New York men for running a multimillion-dollar money laundering scheme and illegally transmitting funds, according to a July 28, 2006 Associated Press report. The report stated that Arthur Budovsky and Vladimir Kats received and illegally transmitted at least $30 million through their company, Goldage, between January and June 2006, and sometimes charged six-figure fees to launder the money. Each off the men were charged with engaging in the business of transmitting money without a license, a felony violation of state banking law.June 13 - A revised Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-Money Laundering Examination Manual will be released later this summer, according to remarks made by Federal Reserve Governor Mark. W. Olson at a regulatory compliance conference in Florida. The text of the speech, which was posted on the Federal Reserve's Web site, noted that the updates will "include not only updates reflecting changes in regulations and supervisory guidance over the course of the past year, but also, among other things, additional guidance on developing a BSA/AML risk assessment, which is the foundation of effective risk-based controls." CLICK HERE to read the full text of Mr. Olson's remarks.

 
May 15 -- The formal draft of technical measures implementing the Third Directive on money laundering and terrorist financing prevention were agreed upon last week by the Committee for the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing, a regulatory committee composed of Member States and chaired by the European Commission. The proposed technical measures were presented to the European Parliament and to the Committee in mid-April 2006, and specifically dealt with clarifying the definition of PEPs, the technical criteria allowing the extension of situations in which procedures for customer due diligence are allowed to be simplified; and the technical criteria allowing Member States to exclude people or entities which conduct financial activities on an occasional or limited basis from the scope of the application of the Third Directive. Click here to read the full release.

May 11 --Click here to read an interesting White Paper on the integration of know-your-employee and human-resources functions at financial institutions, supplied by AMLAC Forum speaker Juan Llanos, Chief Compliance Officer of Remesas Quisqueyana, Inc., a licensed money-transfer business with 700 points of service.

May 4 -- FINCEN released the prepared remarks from US Treasury Secretary John W. Snow, who recently addressed the employees of FINCEN. In his remarks, Secretary Snow highlighted the success of FINCEN over the years. Click here to read the remarks.

May 2 -- FINCEN's Final Rule covering Anti-Money Laundering Programs for Insurance Companies went into effect May 2. Click here to read the text of the final ruling, and here to read the requirement to report suspicious transactions.

April 26, 2006 -- BankAtlantic Bancorp, Inc. has announced that it had entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice relating to deficiencies in BankAtlantic's Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering compliance programs, according to a press release issued by the company. Through an agreement with the Department of Justice, BankAtlantic has agreed to make a payment of $10 million to the United States, which will also cover a civil penality of $10 million assessed by the Office of Thrift Supervision.Click here to read the full release from BankAtlantic.

April 13, 2006 -- An Atlanta-area attorney was sentenced to two years in federal prison and was fined $150,000 for conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering related to an advance-fee fraud scheme known as "the church funding project." Dalton, Ga.-based attorney R. Scott Cunningham, 52, was found guilty of laundering more than $8.7 million in fraud proceeds through his escrow account, and helped co-conspirator Abraham Kennard defraud more than 1,600 churches by concealing and disguising the source, location, ownership, nature, and control of the fraud proceeds.

Click here to read the details of Kennard's conviction and the background of the church funding project case.

April 4, 2006 -- FinCEN issued a civil monetary penalty against Tonkawa Bingo and Casino, for committing "extensive violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and its implementing regulations." According to FinCEN, Tonkawa Bingo and Casino failed to implement a BSA-compliant AML program, failed to keep accurate records, failed to report suspicious activity, and violated the requirement not to structure transactions in currency. Click here to read the details of the action.

March 22, 2006 -- FinCEN announced today the departure of William D. Langford, Jr., the Associate Director for Regulatory Programs Division, and "face" of the organization. Langford will depart at the end of April to join JPMorgan Chase as its Director of Global AML, Sr. Vice President. Click here to read the release.

March 8, 2006 -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury yesterday briefed representatives of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) on the designation of Banco Delta Asia (BDA) in Macao as a "primary money laundering concern." The Department of the Treasury took action against BDA due to its facilitation of North Korean illicit financial activity, which introduces an unacceptable risk to the U.S. financial system. The action was taken under the authority of Section 311 of the USA Patriot Act, which includes measures to protect the U.S. financial system from illicit activities. Click here to read the full release.

March 3, 2006 -- The U.S. State Department's Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs released its 23rd International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, which detailed the progress which has been made in reducing the amount of illicit activity in several known drug havens, such as Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia.

The second part report focuses on money laundering and terrorist financing activities in 195 countries, giving a detailed status on each country, which can be instructive for businesses who are considering doing business in a particular region or country. Click here to read the notes from the on-the-record briefing announcing the release of the report, or click here to download the full report.

February 23, 2006 -- Approximately $25 million in illicit proceeds was sent to Europe over a period of four years by a married couple and their adult son, who were indicted on charges of operating an illegal check cashing and money transfer business, according to the District Attorney's Office of New York County.

In a release, Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced that Western Express International Inc., an unlicensed MSB operating in Manhattan, illegally transmitted money and cashed checks on behalf of clients located in Russia, Ukraine and other Eastern European countries, in violation of New York State banking regulations. Click here to read the release detailing the investigation and subsequent indictments.

February 17, 2006 --Robert W. Werner Named New Director of FinCEN - Robert W. Werner, the Director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has been named the new Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), by U.S. Treasury Secretary John W. Snow . Click here to read the release.

February 13, 2006 -- OFAC Implements Sanctions Programs to Combat the Proliferation of WMD - The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has released a brochure detailing the requirements of three sanctions programs designed to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including the financing and trading of these weapons. These three separate programs include Executive Order 13382, "Blocking Property of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferators and Their Supporters"; the Weapons of Mass Destruction Trade Control Regulations (Part 539 of Title 31, C.F.R); and the Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) Agreement Assets Control Regulations (Part 540 of Title 31, C.F.R). Click here to read the brochure.

February 7, 2006 -- Former NHL Star Rick Tocchet Charged With Promoting Gambling, Money Laundering, and Conspiracy in Connection With Gambling Ring - Rick Tocchet, a former star NHL player who spent 18 years playing hard-nosed hockey for teams such as the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tocchet was charged with promoting gambling, money laundering, and conspiracy in connection with an investigation into an sports-betting ring with alleged mob ties.

The investigation, conducted by the New Jersey State Police Organized Crime Bureau and dubbed "Operation Slap Shot," uncovered a huge betting ring in which over one forty-day period, processed more than 1,000 wagers exceeding $1.7 million on professional and collegiate sporting events. Click here to read the full press release from the New Jersey State Police.

According to various news reports, the two other individuals charged in the complaint -- New Jersey State Trooper James Harney, an eight-year veteran of the police force, and James Ulmer, a Swedesboro, N.J. resident who served as a "sitter" -- were arrested and the proceeds from the ring have been seized. Tocchet, currently an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes, was expected to return to New Jersey to answer the criminal summons.

February 6, 2006 -- Director William J. Fox Departing FinCEN; Deputy Director William F. Baity to Act as Director - William J. Fox, the Director of FinCEN since late 2003, has resigned from the organization as of February 3, 2006, and has announced he will join the Bank of America as Senior Compliance Executive for financial crimes, according to a news release issued on FinCEN's Web site. The release highlighted Mr. Fox's accomplishments at FinCEN, and noted that FinCEN Deputy Director William F. Baity was to act as Director as of February 4, 2006. Click here to read the press release.

March 14, 2006 -- FinCEN is actively working to develop new regulations and reporting requirements for cross-border wire transfers and is working with money service businesses to help them prepare for coming regulations. In a survey sent to banks and other financial services companies, FinCEN has requested comments regarding the feasibility of implementing a cross-border wire transfer reporting requirement under the Bank Secrecy Act. Meanwhile, FinCEN has issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking geared toward both the money services business industry and the banking industry dealing with the issue of money services businesses obtaining appropriate access to banking services.

March 10, 2006 -- The U.S. Department of the Treasury yesterday finalized its proposed rule against the Commercial Bank of Syria (CBS) and its subsidiary, the Syrian Lebanese Commercial Bank, which requires the termination of all correspondent accounts involving the bank by U.S. financial institutions. The action was taken because the bank has been used by terrorists to move funds and has acted as a conduit for the laundering of proceeds generated from the illicit sale of Iraqi oil. Read the Treasury's press release here.

February 24, 2006 -- An investigation led by the City of London Police has resulted in the arrests of 13 people who are charged with conspiracy to launder money. The accused are suspected of opening bank accounts in false names, using false documents, and then inflicting significant losses on those accounts, which are believed to have cost UK clearing banks and finance companies approximately £3 million in losses. Click here to read the release.

January 24, 2006 -- Martin Tremblay, a Canadian national and the president and managing director of Dominion Investments, Ltd., a Bahamas-based investment firm, was indicted in Manhattan federal court for participating in a money laundering scheme occurring between 1998 and 2005, according to a release from the U.S.'s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force's Strike Force. The indictment alleges that Tremblay conspired with other parties to launder $1 billion in illegal proceeds for numerous Dominion Investments clients in exchange for commission payments. Read the full release from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency here.

January 18, 2006 -- Two attorneys have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of money laundering, obstruction of justice, and causing a person to making a false statement to a federal law enforcement official, according to a press release jointly issued by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Broward County (Fla.) Sheriff's Office. The indictments state that the two attorneys financed the purchase of real estate in South Miami and the building of a gymnasium using proceeds they believed were from loan-sharking operations, but were actually proceeds from the sale of marijuana. Click here to read the U.S. Department of Justice press release.

January 17, 2006 -- Senior law enforcement, regulatory, and policymaking officials from offices and bureaus within the Departments of Treasury, Justice, Homeland Security, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the U.S. Postal Service have released a new report entitled "U.S. Money Laundering Threat Assessment." Click here to read the full report.

January 16, 2006 -- With an increased focus on money-transfer networks as a possible haven for money-laundering activity, several international banks and money-transfer networks have launched the International Association of Money Transfer Networks (IAMTN), to help operators and customers become aware and supportive of the main objectives of compliance in countering money laundering. Click here to read the press release describing the new organization.

January 4, 2006 -- The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has announced the long-awaited final regulation for implementing the international correspondent banking provisions and the private banking provisions of Section 312 of the USA PATRIOT Act. To view the final and proposed rules, along with a press release and fact sheet from FinCEN, please click here:

December 29, 2005 -- Oppenheimer & Co. has been fined by the New York Stock Exchange and the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) partly for failing to establish a AML program that is compliant with the Bank Secrecy Act, according to a press release from FinCEN. The firm was fined $2.8 million, which will be split between the NYSE and FinCEN. Please click here to read the full text of the press release.

December 21, 2005-- A Chinatown jewelry store owner has pleaded guilty to attempted enterprise corruption and a violation of US Banking Law in connection with money transfer activities at her store. Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau said that Rose Huong Phung Dao had been operating an unlicensed money transfer business, allowing her customers to move money to Vietnam without screening them against the list of known terrorists or drug traffickers, didn't file a single Currency Transaction Report, and structured the transactions to avoid state and federal recordkeeping requirements. Click here to read the court filing.

December 20, 2005 -- The Federal Reserve Board issued supervisory and penalty actions against ABN AMRO NV to force the Dutch banking giant to comply with US anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including a penalty of US $40 million assessed by the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). Click here to read the full release from the FRB.