Insights

Money Laundering is a Crime … but for some, it is also an Occupation

Most money laundering charges have to do with the criminals routinely transacting their criminal proceeds which in its simplest form is: Anyone who “knowingly” uses or attempts to use the proceeds of “specified unlawful activity” in a “financial transaction” with intent to “promote the carrying on of specified unlawful activity” or “to conceal or disguise […]

If Charles Ponzi were alive today, he would definitely be selling cryptocurrency, NFTs and real estate in the metaverse

How notorious a guy do you have to be to have a type of fraud named after you? Most successful frauds run parallel to the truth. Ponzi became fascinated with something called “international reply coupons” (a coupon that can be exchanged for airmail postage stamps from another country). Ponzi realized that he could turn a […]

Business Email Compromise is rampant and yet easy to prevent

There are three primary types of Business Email Compromise attacks: Fake CEO schemes, redirected vendor payment schemes and real estate title company impersonation. Each involve impersonation either by compromising email account credentials or “spoofing” a trusted person’s email address. The sender then either induces the recipient to send a wire or ACH payment under the […]

What to Do if You Are a Victim of Identity Theft

No one wants to think about it. It is an attack from an unseen adversary. Your money. Your credit standing. Your ability to get a mortgage or a line of credit. Your precious time. If you think you’ve been a victim of identity theft, here are a few things you should do right away. If […]

Biometrics are Subject to Privacy Protection

Privacy is one of those topics that causes senior leadership to glaze over and lose focus. And yet, the stakes for not treating personal data correctly could not be higher. In case the definition of what comprises personal information isn’t dizzying enough, enter biometrics. Your fingerprints, iris, palm prints and facial characteristics are all biometrics […]

Danske Bank Reminds Us to Question the Unusual

Danske Bank’s tiny Estonia branch in the tiny country of Estonia is believed to have laundered $230 billion of money originating from Russia and other CIS countries over 8 years between 2007 and 2015. The entire Estonian economy produces $26 billion of domestic output. I feel like I need to say that again. All of […]

Destigmatizing the Practice of Whistleblowing

In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, the Dodd-Frank Act (“Dodd-Frank”) was signed into federal law on July 21, 2010. At the time, the recession was considered the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. It seemed like a 100-year storm. As it turns out, it was only a 12-year storm. The passage […]

The Achilles Heel of FCPA Compliance: Bribe-paying Intermediaries

According to Stanford University Law School’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Clearinghouse, between 2001 and 2019, there were 268 FCPA enforcement actions. 246 (or 91.7%) of the bribes were paid by third parties as opposed to officers or employees of the defendant company. Sales agents, distributors, JV partners, resellers, freight forwarders, customs brokers, lawyers and accountants […]

Chasing Bernie’s Billions: Inside the Most Successful Asset Recovery Effort in History

On December 11th, 2008 Bernie Madoff was arrested by the FBI in his Manhattan home and criminally charged with a multi-million-dollar securities fraud scheme. So began the most comprehensive and successful financial investigation and asset search in history. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”) Trustee and Baker Hostetler have continued their tireless search for […]

Keeping Dirty Money Offshore: Corporate Transparency Act Makes U.S. Less of a Safe Haven

On April 3rd, 2016, information about 214,488 offshore companies established by Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca leaked. The leak comprised over 11 million documents and 2.6 TB of data and opened a rare glimpse into how the wealthy and powerful shelter their income and conceal their wealth. Named in the leak were 12 current […]

From Systemically Corrupt to Above Reproach: Examining Siemens’ Remarkable Turnaround

When the settlement of the Siemen case was announced in 2008, law enforcement didn’t pull any punches. Matthew W. Friedrich, the acting chief of the Justice Department’s criminal division, called corruption at Siemens “systematic and widespread.” Linda C. Thomsen, the S.E.C.’s enforcement director, said it was “egregious and brazen.” Joseph Persichini Jr., the Assistant Director […]

Did Your New Refrigerator Help Fund Terrorism? Trade-Based Money Laundering Exploits Demand for Consumer Goods

Of the three primary methods that transnational criminal and terrorist organizations utilize to launder the proceeds of illicit activity and finance terrorism, trade-based money laundering is arguably the most challenging. Most people associate money laundering with the misuse of financial institutions or the bulk movement of hard currency using smuggling techniques, but trade-based money […]