Archive

The Latest on Cryptocurrency, Offshore Tax Avoidance and Money-Laundering, and Whistleblowing: A Report from OffshoreAlert Miami 2019

Posted 05/3/19

Hanging Hundred Dollar Bills on Clothes Line

“A diverse collection of the hunters and the hunted.” That’s how the Wall Street Journal described the OffshoreAlert Conference in 2009. The 2019 conference was no different, bringing together those who work in the offshore industry, the government enforcers who try to stop the unscrupulous among them, and the asset recovery professionals who pursue lost funds. Alongside them were whistleblowers and their...

Tagged in: CFTC Whistleblower Reward Program, Cryptocurrency, Financial and Investment Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, IRS Whistleblower Reward Program, Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, Money Laundering, Ponzi Schemes, SEC Whistleblower Reward Program, Securities Fraud, Tax Fraud,

Constantine Cannon Attorneys Eric Havian and Michael Ronickher Published on Need for Whistleblowers in Anti-Money Laundering Enforcement

Posted 04/26/19

currency hanging on laundry line with clothespins

With a whistleblower program for anti-money laundering enforcement currently under discussion in the House of Representatives Financial Services subcommittee, Constantine Cannon attorneys Eric Havian and Michael Ronickher were published in Banking Exchange on April 22 on the benefits such a program could bring. Highlighting the example of the recent Standard Chartered settlement, in which the London-based bank agreed...

Tagged in: CC Lawyers, Financial and Investment Fraud, Financial Institution Fraud, Legislation and Regulation News, Money Laundering,

Top Ten Federal Financial Fraud Recoveries of 2018

Posted 01/25/19

Wooden gavel and handcuffs on top of U.S. currency

While 2018 has been a banner year for FCPA, Tax, and SEC & CFTC recoveries, in the bottomless pit of financial frauds that hurt taxpayers, the government, consumers, investors, and the American economy, 2018 brought us additional stunning recoveries for violations related to residential-mortgage backed securities, international economic sanctions, consumer protection, anti-money-laundering, EB-5 investment fraud, and...

Tagged in: Accounting Fraud, Financial and Investment Fraud, Financial Institution Fraud, FIRREA, Foreign Exchange, Housing and Mortgage Fraud, Market Manipulation and Trading Violations, Misrepresentations, Money Laundering, Securities Fraud, Top 10, Visa Fraud,

Constantine Cannon Attorneys Eric Havian and Michael Ronickher Published in Law360 on the Need for Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Rewards

Posted 12/12/18

In the wake of anti-money laundering enforcement activity spurred by the Panama Papers, Constantine Cannon attorneys Eric Havian and Michael Ronickher published an article in Law360 on why we need an anti-money laundering whistleblower program. Havian and Ronickher argue for a new, DOJ-led whistleblower program to close the “large enforcement gap” left open by the existing IRS and SEC programs: “Domestic law...

Tagged in: Abusive Tax Shelters, CC Lawyers, Financial and Investment Fraud, Financial Institution Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, International Whistleblowers, Money Laundering,

Money Laundering Watch: Will More Chickens Come Home to Roost Following Deutsche Bank Raid?

Posted 11/30/18

The Panama Papers fallout continues with a massive early morning raid on Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. Some 170 officers searched for evidence of the bank’s role in over $350m worth of suspected money-laundering through organizations in the British Virgin Islands. Deutsche Bank confirms the investigation is related to the Panama Papers: the April 2016 release of over 11 million files about...

Tagged in: Abusive Tax Shelters, Financial and Investment Fraud, Financial Institution Fraud, Importance of Whistleblowers, International Whistleblowers, Money Laundering,

Question of the Week — Should a Non-Disclosure Agreement Hush Up the Danske Bank Whistleblower?

Posted 10/24/18

Over the last month, a major financial scandal has roiled Europe. In September, Danske Bank, the largest bank in Denmark, announced that hundreds of billions of dollars in suspicious money had moved through its Estonia branch. Moreover, the company knew about the money, which originated in Russia and other former Soviet states, for years before taking action. In the wake of this tectonic money-laundering scandal,...

Tagged in: Money Laundering, Question of the Week,

Catch of the Week — Universal American Mortgage Company

Posted 10/19/18

Universal American Mortgage Company (UAMC), a Miami-based mortgage company, agreed on October 19 to a $13.2 million settlement to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by falsely certifying that it complied with Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage-insurance requirements in connection with certain loans. UAMC is part of Lennar, one of America’s leading homebuilders. The...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, Contract Non-Compliance, FCA Federal, Financial Institution Fraud, Housing and Mortgage Fraud, Whistleblower Case, Whistleblower Rewards,

Question of the Week — Is it Time for an Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Program?

Posted 10/11/18

Current US law includes a variety of whistleblower programs that reward private persons for bringing information to the government. The programs range widely, and include everything from the False Claims Act (which rewards whistleblowers for revealing fraud against the government) to the SEC whistleblower program (rewards for reporting violations of US securities laws) to the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships...

Tagged in: Money Laundering, Question of the Week,

This Week in Bribes — Guilty Pleas in Two Major FCPA Cases

Posted 09/20/18

Major developments occurred last week in two different FCPA cases related to two separate state energy companies. PetroEcuador and PDVSA have both been the subjects of long-running FCPA and money-laundering investigations. In Ecuador, over a dozen PetroEcuador officials have already been charged with accepting bribes in exchange for business with the state oil company. And in Venezuela, the PDVSA scandal has spawned...

Tagged in: FCPA, International Whistleblowers, Money Laundering,

Catch of the Week — Former Swiss Bank Executive Helped Launder $1.2 Billion Dollars

Posted 08/27/18

Although the conviction of Paul Manafort and plea of Michael Cohen are certainly the highest profile fraud news of late, our Catch of the Week goes to a guilty plea that captured fewer headlines but involved much higher dollars: Matthias Krull, former executive of Swiss bank Julius Baer Group Ltd., pleaded guilty to conspiracy for his involvement in an international scheme to launder more than a billion dollars. At...

Tagged in: Catch of the Week, Financial and Investment Fraud, Money Laundering,

Contact

Click here for a confidential contact or call:

The Latest on Cryptocurrency, Offshore Tax Avoidance and Money-Laundering, and Whistleblowing: A Report from OffshoreAlert Miami 2019

Constantine Cannon Attorneys Eric Havian and Michael Ronickher Published on Need for Whistleblowers in Anti-Money Laundering Enforcement

Top Ten Federal Financial Fraud Recoveries of 2018

Constantine Cannon Attorneys Eric Havian and Michael Ronickher Published in Law360 on the Need for Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Rewards

Money Laundering Watch: Will More Chickens Come Home to Roost Following Deutsche Bank Raid?

Question of the Week — Should a Non-Disclosure Agreement Hush Up the Danske Bank Whistleblower?

Catch of the Week — Universal American Mortgage Company

Question of the Week — Is it Time for an Anti-Money Laundering Whistleblower Program?

This Week in Bribes — Guilty Pleas in Two Major FCPA Cases

Catch of the Week — Former Swiss Bank Executive Helped Launder $1.2 Billion Dollars

Newsletter

Subscribe to receive email updates from the Constantine Cannon blogs

Sign up for: