Archive

Pandora Papers Show the Value of Financial Transparency, the Critical Role of Whistleblowers – and the Need for Additional Regulation

This week, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and its partners began publicly reporting on the “Pandora Papers,” a trove of millions of leaked documents from firms around the world that help customers set up “offshore” accounts and shell companies designed to conceal financial truths.  The leaked documents, and the extensive reporting on the documents, sheds light on the murky world of...

Catch of the Week: San Francisco Garbage Companies Cop to Bribing Corrupt City Regulator in $36 Million Deal with Feds

Three San Francisco trash and recycling companies, all Recology, Inc. subsidiaries, have agreed to pay $36 million in a corruption scheme involving substantial bribes to former San Francisco Public Works Director Mohammad Nuru. The SF Recology Group, which includes Recology San Francisco, Sunset Scavenger Company, and Golden Gate Disposal & Recycling Company agreed to a deferred prosecution deal on charges they...

Catch of the Week: Telemedicine Company Owner Charged in $784 Million Kickback Scheme

Underscoring the fraud risks associated with the government’s continued expansion and loosening of restrictions on telehealth, the U.S. Department of Justice recently announced that a grand jury in New Jersey has returned a superseding indictment against the Florida owner of multiple telemedicine companies, referred to by DOJ prosecutors as the Video Doctor Network, for allegedly participating in a massive Medicare...

What the SEC can learn from its German peer BaFin

The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, otherwise known as BaFin, is Germany’s version of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a supervisory body working to ensure the functioning, stability and integrity of the German financial system. BaFin was created following a 2002 merger between Germany’s Federal Banking Supervisory Office (BAKred), the Federal Securities Supervisory Office (BAWe), and...

When the Deli’s Not Just a Deli

A market mystery recently caught the attention of financial journalists and the public more generally: a New Jersey deli that is seemingly never open and reports minimal profits is—on paper at least—worth $100 million after issuing public shares.  The shareholders are few, and mostly in China.  The owners are local (the revered wrestling coach) and not (a father-son investor duo with a history of shady...

Why FinCEN Should Quickly Establish Regulations for the New AML Whistleblower Program

The nascent AML whistleblower program promises to boost enforcement in a difficult area, but FinCEN must swiftly develop regulations to ensure that it launches the program in the most robust way possible. Created by the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA), passed as part of the FY21 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the program went into immediate effect.  Motivated by retaliation protections and the...

COVID Frauds of the Week: DOJ Continues to Crack Down on PPP Fraudsters

As of this week, the Small Business Administration has disbursed over $700 billion in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to small businesses and non-profits. There are over $100 billion in remaining appropriations, with additional appropriations likely to follow thereafter. With numbers like these, the program has become a magnet for fraudsters seeking to profit from the pandemic. The DOJ has been actively going...

The New BSA Whistleblower Provision – From the Whistleblowers’ Perspective

Constantine Cannon whistleblower attorneys Mary Inman and Carolina Gonzalez were recently guest bloggers at Money Laundering Watch from Ballard Spahr.  Ballard Spahr attorneys Peter D. Hardy and Meredith S. Dante posed questions to Inman and Gonzalez about recent amendments to the Bank Secrecy Act that provide new options for whistleblowers reporting anti-money laundering violations.  With the kind permission of...

Trump Tower Intrigue

There may now be informants in Trump Tower.  Most reports of former President Trump’s objections to the National Defense Authorization Act cited his anger about the removal of symbols of the Confederacy and failure to repeal protection for social media companies.  But perhaps Mr. Trump should have paid more attention to a provision buried deep within the law that offers big rewards to whistleblowers who reveal...

Congress Has Passed Sweeping Anti–Money Laundering Legislation. Now It’s Up To Trump.

Associate Sarah “Poppy” Alexander was quoted in the BuzzFeed News article, ‘Congress Has Passed Sweeping Anti–Money Laundering Legislation. Now It’s Up To Trump’ published on December 11, 2020.

Following rising concerns about money laundering using the US financial system, Congress has passed new anti-money laundering legislation included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). First, it would...