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US DOJ reveals that a high-ranking Los Zetas cartel member has pleaded guilty to a major drug trafficking conspiracy involving multi-ton shipments of cocaine and marijuana smuggled into the US

April 22, 2026

According to DOJ, Daniel Perez Rojas, a senior figure in the cartel, admitted to conspiring to distribute at least 5 kg of cocaine and 1,000 kg of marijuana for import into the U.S., reflecting the scale of the organisation’s trafficking operations. Prosecutors state that he played a key leadership role marked by violence, corruption and intimidation, including coordinating cartel expansion and violent acts, and now faces a sentence ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment…

FINTRAC imposes an administrative monetary penalty of approx. C$91,000 on the Northern Isga Foundation after a compliance review identified multiple AML/ATF programme deficiencies

April 8, 2026

These included failures to develop and maintain an adequate risk assessment, implement effective written compliance policies and procedures, provide ongoing staff training, and conduct the required effectiveness review of its compliance framework. The case highlights FINTRAC’s continued supervisory focus on ensuring that reporting entities not only establish formal AML controls but also demonstrate that these controls…

US DoJ confirms a Mexican national has pleaded guilty to participating in a sophisticated black-market peso exchange ML scheme that moved millions of dollars in U.S. drug proceeds into Mexico

April 8, 2026

Charges detail how conspirators used U.S. drug cash to purchase goods that were exported and resold, allowing proceeds to be repatriated in pesos without physically transferring funds across the border. It also underscores the role of cross-border cooperation and financial investigations in dismantling laundering networks that support narcotics trafficking and broader criminal activity…

US DoJ charges a Uruguayan man who has pleaded guilty to using an unlicensed MSB to move nearly $100K linked to a sanctioned Venezuelan official into the US, in a sanctions evasion scheme

March 24, 2026

Charges describe how the scheme involved transferring nearly $100,000 in cash from the Dominican Republic to a U.S. bank account using fake invoices, coded language, and multiple accounts to conceal the true origin of funds. It also underscores enforcement priorities targeting sanctions evasion networks and the misuse of financial institutions to facilitate illicit cross-border transactions…

MAS issues prohibition orders against 2 former relationship managers for up to 16 years for enabling a multi-billion-dollar ML scheme through forged documents and suspicious cross-border transactions

March 17, 2026

MAS imposes a 16-year prohibition order on Wang Qiming and a 7-year order on Liu Kai, barring them from conducting any regulated financial-services activities due to misconduct including forgery, money laundering and obstruction of justice in connection with Singapore’s S$3 billion laundering case. The regulator states that their actions demonstrated a lack of honesty and integrity and underscores that it will take firm enforcement action against individuals who facilitate illicit financial flows…

FCA imposes restrictions on Sendsii Ltd, a money transfer business, after it lost its HMRC registration, halting operations and ordering the return of client funds over compliance and transparency concerns

March 11, 2026

The firm was prohibited from carrying out any payment services, including onboarding customers or handling funds, required to return all client money, and ordered to provide detailed information on its operations, agents, and accounts, amid concerns over non-reporting, lack of transparency, and risks to consumers…

FinCEN imposes a historic $80M penalty on Canaccord Genuity LLC for willfully failing to implement AML controls, conduct proper due diligence, and report suspicious securities transactions

March 6, 2026

FinCEN finds that the broker-dealer failed to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering programme, conduct adequate customer due diligence and implement appropriate transaction monitoring, which allowed suspicious trading linked to potential fraud schemes to go undetected. The firm also failed to file at least 160 suspicious activity reports tied to thousands of questionable transactions in over-the-counter securities, depriving law enforcement of critical financial-intelligence…

EPPO leads Investigation Emily against a cross‑border criminal network behind €103M in luxury car VAT fraud, resulting in nine arrests, 150+ EU‑wide searches, and €13.5M in assets seized

March 4, 2026

Under Investigation “Emily”, authorities detained nine suspects in Germany and Czechia and conducted more than 150 searches across nine countries, seizing luxury vehicles, cash, art and other assets worth over €13.5 million. Prosecutors allege the group operated a VAT carousel fraud, using chains of shell companies and “missing traders” to simulate cross-border vehicle sales and fraudulently reclaim VAT refunds while avoiding tax payments…

UK PSR fines Bank of Ireland £3.78M for failing to implement Confirmation of Payee on time, leaving £6.9B in payments and 1.14M payees exposed to fraud, flagging the risk of delayed anti-fraud measures

February 20, 2026

The bank missed the regulatory deadline by over a year, leaving approximately 1.14 million new payees and around £6.9 billion in payment activity without this fraud protection. CoP is crucial in preventing authorised push payment (APP) fraud and mis‑directed payments, and the PSR’s enforcement underscores that delays in implementing such safeguards are treated as serious compliance breaches, exposing both customers and institutions to significant financial crime risk…

Sweden’s FSA launches an investigation into Swedbank to assess whether its AML controls and customer due diligence from 2023–2025 met regulatory standards, intensifying scrutiny on the bank

February 20, 2026

The Swedish FSA has launched a probe into Swedbank covering a recent two-year period, examining whether its customer due diligence and AML controls meet regulatory standards. The review forms part of broader supervisory priorities on money laundering and terrorist financing risks and follows the closure of a separate U.S. investigation, with uncertainty over whether the probe is routine or triggered by specific concerns…

US DOJ convicts former VP of Corsa Coal Corporation for leading a major international bribery and ML scheme, using bribes and kickbacks to secure $140M in coal supply contracts

February 19, 2026

Between 2016 and 2020, Hobson paid bribes through an intermediary to Egyptian government officials at the state‑owned Al Nasr Company for Coke and Chemicals to secure nearly $140 million in coal contracts, and also received over $200,000 in kickbacks. He was found guilty of violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), conspiracy, money laundering, and wire fraud; sentencing will be determined by a federal judge…

ECB sanctions J.P. Morgan with €12.18M in administrative penalties for serious compliance breaches of EU banking reporting rules, including for misreporting capital requirements