Recent Posts
Wildlife Trafficking Syndicate ensnared by United Forces
On 13 June 2019, the US Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York indicted four individuals, Moazu KROMAH, Amara CHERIF, Mansur Mohamed SURUR, and Abdi Hussein AHMED charged with participating in a conspiracy to traffic more than US$7 million in rhino horns and elephant ivory. In addition, KROMAH, CHERIF, and SURUR were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, and SURUR and AHMED were charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute more than 10 kilograms of heroin. One of those charged is now in the US, another awaiting extradition in Senegal and two remaining Kenyans still at large, on the run.
This is not just important in terms of the action taken but how co operation across agencies and between public and private sectors and effective information sharing made a difference.
Crypto asks for more effective AML regulation – by Malcolm Wright
In February 2019, FATF issued its proposed recommendations for AML governance of the crypto industry. Under pressure from the international community, the FATF aimed to bring amendments to Recommendation 15 (New Technologies) into force at the June 2019 plenary. Within the proposals, one point was opened for consultation; colloquially known as 7(b) the proposal seeks to introduce wire transfer recommendations required of the traditional banking sector into the crypto industry. That is, originator and beneficiary information is collected, screened and transmitted between correspondent institutions with the objective to prevent criminals and terrorists having unfettered access to the financial system.
The crypto industry responded but not for the reason many thought; the response was not to fight against regulation or kick the can down the road for another day but to make sure that the regulation could be effective.
Message from the Editor / Publishing SSA TA – 2020
FCN Sub Saharan Africa Threat Assessment – Publication is now available: – see below
Recent FCN Publications
FCN Sub Saharan Africa Threat Assessment – 2020: SSA TA 2020 Published 6
FCN Global Threat Assessment – 2019: FCN-GTA.2019.Pub-Final
Previous Publications
“Strings Attached” – A Jim Simons Financial Crime Thriller by John Cusack
Book 6 in the Jim Simons Series of Financial Crime Thrillers is now available – “Strings Attached“.
When a Latvian anti-money laundering officer sends a desperate warning to Swiss investigator Jim Simons, she expects answers.
Instead, she ends up dead.
Following her final message, Simons uncovers a hidden network that has moved billions through offshore companies, correspondent banks and secret accounts across Europe.
At the centre stands a shadowy figure known only as the Violist.
The closer Simons gets to the truth, the harder powerful people push back.
Soon the investigation triggers waves of cyber attacks, political pressure and a dangerous confrontation stretching from Latvia and Cyprus to Switzerland, Moscow and Washington.
Because some fortunes are built on secrets.
“Rhino Gold” – A Jim Simons Financial Crime Thriller by John Cusack
Book 5 in the Jim Simons Series – “Rhino Gold” is now available,
A dead rhino. Dirty gold. A financial system where the truth is hard to find.
When Jim Simons, the Bank of Zürich’s legendary financial crime investigator, begins asking simple questions about the origins of Swiss gold, he uncovers something far darker than illicit trading.
From the gold souk of Dubai and the private vaults of Switzerland, to the savannahs of Kenya, Rhino Gold follows the hidden veins through which blood money courses to become respectable wealth. Behind the world’s purest gold lies a supply chain that involves politicians, fixers and financiers tied together by greed, corruption and power.
As the investigation leads to Africa, Simons and his team discover trade based money laundering, corruption and illegal wildlife trafficking which is a trade pound for pound more valuable than gold and a gateway into organised crime, sanctions evasion and global money laundering on an industrial scale.
“Crises” – A Jim Simons Financial Crime Thriller by John Cusack
Book 4 in the Jim Simons Series is now out and available.
The world’s financial system is collapsing. Wall Street is in free-fall. Governments are scrambling to save banks. Fortunes are disappearing overnight.
Amid the chaos, Bank of Zürich investigator Jim Simons is sent to New York on what should be a routine assignment: review a prestigious hedge fund investment linked to the bank’s charitable foundation.
But something doesn’t add up.
The fund has survived the financial crisis untouched. Its returns are remarkably consistent. Its investors are fiercely loyal. And the deeper Simons digs, the more he uncovers a hidden world beneath Manhattan’s financial elite—one where financiers, organised crime, cartel money, human trafficking and political influence intersect behind a façade of wealth and respectability.
FATF 5th Round Comparative Analysis After 7 Country Reviews by FCN
‘Stronger Compliance…. Evidence of improved effectiveness, but system outcomes are not yet being delivered at scale”
In the 5th round of FATF country evaluations results are now in for the first 7 countries that have reported, Austria, Belgium, Italy, Latvia, Malaysia, Serbia and Singapore. In many ways this round could be better described as the second round of effectiveness evaluations, as this is where the real focus is, moving beyond technical compliance with the 40 Recommendations to the so what, which are evaluated by the 11 Immediate Outcome scores.
Their were many common threads that ran through the FATF reports. In particular the increased focus on the traditional threats which were better understood and the emerged, new and emerging threats too.
Singapore Financial Crime Dashboard by FCN
Financial Crime News is now publishing a Financial Crime Dashboard for Singapore following the FATF Country Evaluation.
For a copy of the Dashboard please see HERE. FCN Singapore Dashboard 2026Pbd 2
Latvia Financial Crime Dashboard – by FCN
A new and updated Financial Crime News publication for Latvia is now released.
See the Financial Crime Dashboard as of May 2026. See below:
For more on Latvia See HERE
New UK Fraud Strategy – (2026 – 2029)
The UK has published its new Anti Fraud Strategy (2026 -2029), which like the last one published in 2023 has much to commend it. The highlight is the Online Crime Centre a public private collaboration that is at last following the Anti Scam Centres set up up by leading countries in Asia including Singapore in 2019 and more substantively in 2022.
It has though one glaring omission. It has no target. This may be because the previous Strategy had one but that didn’t work out so well, so maybe the idea of setting targets has been shelved. No one is disputing lots of effort went into tackling fraud under the last strategy or will in this one.
Still it’s important to remind ourselves what the target was in 2023, otherwise it will be forgotten and the lessons won’t be learned.
From Potentates to PEP’s – A 50 year Journey
It is 25 years since the term “Politically Exposed Persons” was first used publicly, and it came from the Chairman of the Swiss Banking Regulator in an address to the Basel Committee on Banking Supervisors in Basel on 21st September, 2000. The need for such a term and to ensure collective international action arose from the experiences of Banks and Banking and their exposures to funds derived from grand corruption largely overseas, dating back to the 1970’s though to the end of the 1990’s.
It is instructive to review the timeline that both led to the genesis of the term “Politically Exposed Persons” which could instead have been “Potentate Risk”. The experiences in Switzerland in particularly and the reaction by Swiss Regulators cannot be overstated to ensure it was internationalised first via the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in 2001 and by the FATF in 2003 (First used as a term by FATF in May 2002).
Epstein Files: Financial Crime Case Study – Lessons Learned & Long Form Chronology - Premium
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Epstein Files: Financial Crime Case Study – Lessons Learned
The Epstein Files:
When a plane crashes, an investigation is undertaken and a root cause is identified and lessons for the wider aviation industry are learned and new adaptations implemented.
Fighting financial crime should do the same, but “crashes” take years to investigate and partisan findings generate limited results which rarely means adequate programme adjustments are made.
The case of Jeffrey Epstein is a case in point. This is an almighty plane crash, where investigations everywhere are being mishandled.
Despite decades of suspicions and reporting of SARs he still maintained bank accounts and the financial intelligence that was identified appeared to have no material impact internally in some of the main banks he had accounts and or with those supervising and or from those receiving the intelligence which goes to the very heart of the system we all want to work better.
