US customs to increase focus on TBML this year
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be increasing its focus on trade-based money laundering (TBML) and tax evasion this year according to CBP’s executive assistant commissioner, AnnMarie Highsmith. Customs officers are at the forefront of efforts to counter TBML because it routinely involves the…
WCO, Egmont Group and Interpol successfully conclude first Latin American AML/CFT operation
The World Customs Organisation (WCO), Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and Interpol have successfully concluded their first anti-money laundering and counter financing terrorism financing (AML/CTF) joint investigation in the Western Hemisphere. Operation Tentacle-Latin America revealed extensive illicit movements of gold, silver, diamonds and…
Top US customs official seeks more authority to catch trade cheats
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) executive assistant commissioner, Brenda Smith, has said her agency needs more authority to curb trade cheats. Smith was appearing before a Senate finance committee hearing focused on counterfeit imports during which she indicated that additional powers would also help…
Former US customs chief’s final speech calls for international cooperation to curb trade-based financial crime
More international cooperation is required to tackle increasingly sophisticated trade-based financial crimes according to former US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Gil Kerlikowske. In his final major speech before leaving office, he said the agency’s enforcement, security and trade development missions would fail unless…
TBML behind declining cash seizures on US-Mexican border
Trade-based money laundering (TBML) and other increasingly sophisticated methods of smuggling money are behind declining seizures of illicit cash along the US border with Mexico. Seizures by US Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officers along the border rose from US$8 million in 2005 to a…
Legal commentary on US’ criminalisation of trade misinvoicing and fraud
A global law firm has recently published a report on the increasing proclivity for US prosecutors to treat trade mis-invoicing and financial fraud as criminal offences. According to lawyers from White & Case, this marks a shift from the traditional US practice of relying on…
