Illicit cryptocurrency transaction activity reaches all-time high in value, all-time low in share of all cryptocurrency activity
Cryptocurrency-based crime hit a new all-time high in 2021, with illicit addresses receiving US$14 billion over the course of the year, up from US$7.8 billion in 2020 according to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis. Evidence suggests that cryptocurrencies have been and will be used in trade-based…
Virtual currencies increasingly feeding TBML operations says DEA
Drug traffickers and money launderers are increasingly incorporating virtual currency into trade-based money laundering (TBML) activity as the use of these currencies becomes more widely adopted according to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The administration’s recently published National Drug Threat Assessment 2020 says reporting…
US investigators ditch inquiry into Kaloti’s gold trade money laundering
Investigators in the US have ditched their pursuit of money laundering charges against one of the world’s largest gold traders and refiners, Kaloti Jewellery Group. Earlier this year a British High Court found that one of the world’s ‘Big 4’ accounting firms and Kaloti’s accountants,…
Inland Revenue Service division awarded for cracking complex US-Mexico TBML conspiracy
The US treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has awarded the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CID)for its investigation into a transnational money laundering organisation operating in the US and Mexico through a complex trade-based money laundering (TBML) scheme. The division was one of seven…
Cryptocurrencies and stronger links with Asia creating new TBML opportunities
A US congressional hearing into Mexican drug cartels and border security held in December focused on how the cartels and transnational criminal organisations (TCOs) are making increasing use of cryptocurrency channels to conduct their money laundering operations. Links with Asia are also strengthening, creating scenarios in…
Latin American gangs turn to China to organise trade-based financial crime
Latin American criminal gangs are increasingly looking to transnational criminal organisations in China to launder money according to an associate professor of Economics at the State University of New York. Sara Hsu, who is specialist in the Chinese financial system, says that trade-based financial crime…
US resumes investigations into Hezbollah’s TBML operations
Washington appears to have re-engaged with its investigations into trade-based financial crimes allegedly perpetrated by Hezbollah, which the US authorities describe as a terrorist group, by appointing a new team to pursue the probe. This follows disclosures made by a former senior official at the…
US report highlights challenges of TBML schemes
A new report from the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has highlighted that trade-based money laundering (TBML) schemes are a persistent challenge for authorities seeking to curb or close down transnational criminal organisations involved in the illegal drugs trade. The 2017 National Drug Threat Assessment…
US to open China office to counter TBML associated with drugs trade
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is planning to open a new office in southern China amidst growing concerns over the country’s role in the global drug trade. Of specific concern is the utilisation of trade-based money laundering (TBML) schemes to legitimise the drug profits…
Trade-based money laundering employed by Hezbollah
The US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) says it has uncovered a complex money laundering network operated by Hezbollah that employs, amongst many other systems, trade-based money laundering (TBML). The DEA has said it has engaged in “significant enforcement activity including arrests” with the operations of…
