Our monthly round up of news items relevant to AML regulated businesses.
Cyber Security
Human trafficking and cyber crime
A slightly different take on the human resources needed to support cyber crime as a service.
Police in the Philippines police conducted a raid recently and rescued more than 2,700 workers from China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and more than a dozen other countries. It is reported that the workers were human trafficking victims who had been tricked with promises of employment.
The victims report that they were duped into working with fraudulent online gaming sites and other cybercrime groups.
Workers were allegedly lured with the promise of high salaries and excellent working conditions via Facebook ads.
Children drawn to cyber crime
According to research by Kaspersky one in 10 children under 17 believe they are capable of hacking into a website or an online account, and 13% would attempt it if dared to.
The study also states that less than 10% of parents were concerned that their children might be involved in digital criminality.
Note for the parents out there. A stark warning that an increasing number of children could be exposed to peer pressure or malicious actors and risk being manipulated into illegal activity during the upcoming summer holidays.
Due Diligence
Mafia infiltration
The extent to which organised crime can and will infiltrate public office is amply illustrated in a recent Europol press release following arrests of 43 suspects.
The ‘Ndrangheta mafia manipulated local elections in Calabria, Italy. It installed its members in critical administrative and political positions so that they were able to control and exploit the territory.
The range of criminal activities is astounding and includes, corruption, murder, violence, extortion, fraud, money laundering, illicit waste trafficking and conspiracy with other criminal groups.
Regulatory
Panama and Cayman Islands update
Panama and the Cayman Islands have made substantial progress in enhancing their AML and terrorist financing controls according to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Both jurisdictions are reported to have been praised for successfully introducing the requisite controls to improve the monitoring of their financial systems as part of an action plan developed in with the FATF.
Panama was placed on the grey list in 2019 and the Cayman Islands in 2021. They made ‘high-level political commitments’ to work with the financial watchdog to strengthen their AML controls.
