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HMRC issues a list of businesses penalised for AML breaches between Apr – Sept 2025, revealing that 170 real estate agencies nearly half of all 369 fined were hit with £835,842 in total fines

February 2, 2026

According to the report, the vast majority of these infractions, 332 out of 369 were administrative failures, specifically businesses trading without the required anti-money laundering (AML) supervision or failing to register by the legal deadline. Other affected sectors included accountancy service providers, who received 134 penalties totaling £513,930, and money service businesses, which faced 11 penalties totaling…

US DOJ reports a former TB bank employee has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes and help launder $5.5M in drug proceeds through fraudulent a/cs and ATM withdrawals to Colombia

January 30, 2026

Felix Caraballo abused his banking position to open fraudulent accounts, issue over 150 debit cards to shell companies, and bypass internal controls, enabling thousands of ATM withdrawals in Colombia that moved illicit funds abroad. He received cash and digital payments in exchange for facilitating the scheme and now faces sentencing later in 2026…

OFSI fines Bank of Scotland £160,000 for processing 24 payments worth £77,383.39 to a sanctioned Russian individual, citing screening failures that exposed serious weaknesses in its sanctions controls

January 26, 2026

The breaches, which occurred in February 2023, were due to gaps in the bank’s screening systems and name‑matching procedures, allowing the account to remain active for over two weeks. The penalty was reduced by 50% from £320,000 because the bank voluntarily disclosed the issue promptly. The notice underscores the importance of robust sanctions screening, escalation procedures, and staff training to prevent similar compliance failures…

AUSTRAC orders an independent audit of Airwallex, a payment platform, to investigate suspected AML/CFT breaches in transaction monitoring, customer due diligence, and suspicious reporting

January 22, 2026

The audit, issued under section 162 of the AML/CTF Act, will require an external auditor at Airwallex’s expense to assess whether the company’s AML/CTF program, customer due diligence, transaction monitoring and suspicious matter reporting meet regulatory obligations, with findings due within 180 days and potentially informing further regulatory action. . AUSTRAC’s CEO Brendan Thomas emphasised concerns about…

US DOJ reports a former TD Bank employee has pleaded guilty to facilitating a Colombian ATM ML scheme by accepting bribes to help move over $26M through TD Bank accounts

January 21, 2026

A former New Jersey-based TD Bank employee, Oscar Marcel Nunez-Flores, pleaded guilty to accepting bribes to help a money-laundering network transfer more than $26 million from the United States to Colombia through TD Bank accounts. The plea highlights how bank insiders can be exploited to enable international laundering and underscores DOJ’s commitment to holding financial professionals accountable when they abuse their positions and evade reporting obligations…

US DOJ confirms the extradition of 37 Mexican nationals linked to major cartels, wanted for drug trafficking, narcoterrorism, and money laundering, to face prosecution in the U.S

January 21, 2026

US DOJ reports that 37 fugitives were brought from Mexico into the United States to face a range of federal criminal charges, including allegations of narcoterrorism, material support to foreign terrorist organisations, firearms trafficking, human smuggling, money laundering and conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine, fentanyl and cocaine. Among those transferred are prolific human smugglers, violent arms traffickers and alleged members of major drug cartels designated as foreign terrorist organisations…

UK SFO convicts 3 former Ethical Forestry directors for a £70M investment fraud that funneled 3,000 UK investors’ money into luxury assets instead of the promised tree-planting scheme

January 16, 2026

The SFO secured guilty pleas from three former directors of Ethical Forestry Limited at Southwark Crown Court for their roles in a £70 million investment fraud that preyed on roughly 3,000 UK investors. The scheme involved misleading savers into diverting pension funds into a so-called tree-planting investment that could not deliver the promised returns, with proceeds used to finance lavish lifestyles rather than generate investor profit…

US authorities extradite a high-ranking Sinaloa Cartel member to Atlanta to face federal cocaine trafficking charges for orchestrating major cross-border drug shipments

January 16, 2026

US authorities have extradited a high‑ranking Sinaloa Cartel member from Mexico to Atlanta, where he has pleaded not guilty to federal cocaine trafficking charges alleging he led and coordinated the transport of multi‑kilogram shipments of cocaine from South America through Mexico into the United States; the indictment reflects a multi‑agency effort to dismantle transnational narcotics networks, underscores the cartel’s designation as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, and highlights sustained international cooperation to hold senior cartel…

CSSF Luxembourg fines Rakuten Europe Bank €185,000 for persistent AML/CFT failings, citing weak transaction monitoring, delayed suspicious activity reporting, and inadequate customer risk controls

January 6, 2026

The sanction, amounting to about 1 % of the bank’s annual turnover, reflects the gravity and duration of the compliance breaches. The inspection uncovered a number of gaps, including the bank had failed to implement an adequate transaction monitoring system. Monitoring scenarios were outdated, did not cover all transactions and could no longer be properly configured following staff departures…

South Korea’s FIU fines virtual asset operator Korbit Ltd. KRW 2.73BN ($1.9M) for major AML and CTF breaches after inspections expose significant gaps in CDD and transaction monitoring

December 31, 2025

Korbit failed to properly verify the identities of its customers, especially those considered high-risk. The exchange did not adequately monitor transactions or assess customer risk profiles, which is a legal requirement to prevent money laundering. This gap meant that potentially suspicious or illicit activities could go undetected…

Dutch Gambling regulator (KSA) issues notice to TOTO Online over major AML failings, including poor customer monitoring and fund origin checks, giving six months to comply before a re-inspection

December 24, 2025

KSA found that TOTO Online failed to continuously monitor customer relationships and transactions after initial due diligence, did not properly document why updated information did not change a player’s risk classification, and conducted inadequate investigations into the origin of player funds. Although the operator cooperated and resolved some issues, the regulator has given TOTO Online six months to fully…

EPPO indicts two individuals and a company in Croatia for alleged EU subsidy fraud involving steel-structure construction projects

December 22, 2025

EPPO’s office in Zagreb charged the suspects with submitting misleading documentation to secure tens of thousands of euros in EU funding for steel-structure works they did not properly perform or complete. The case reflects coordinated EU action to protect the integrity of the EU budget by targeting fraudulent subsidy claims and financial misconduct.

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