Archive for the ‘General News & Cases’ Category
20.08.09 HMRC has published its Code of Practice for supervisory purposes for visits to businesses under Money Laundering Regulations (COP28).
Posted by: BTC in General News & Cases, HMRC News and Guidance, Professional Bodies on August 20th, 2009
HMRC has published its Code of Practice for supervisory purposes for visits to businesses under Money Laundering Regulations (COP28). This Code of Practice tells you what you can expect from HMRC Supervisory staff and what they expect of you when they visit your business under the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.
The type of businesses that is required to register with HMRC under the Money Laundering Regulations and be supervised accordingly are;
- Money Service Businesses
- Trust or Company Service Providers
- Accountancy Service Providers
- High Value Dealers
The focus of the visit will be on your business’s risk sensitive anti-money laundering policies and procedures to make sure they successfully manage and reduce the money laundering and terrorist financing risks faced by your business.
During a visit HMRC supervisory staff we will always:
- check that the information held on the HMRC register is correct
- check that the right people within Money Service Businesses and Trust or Company Service Providers have undergone the fit and proper test
- ask you to explain how your risk sensitive anti-money laundering policies and procedures work
- answer any questions you have on your legal responsibilities under anti- money laundering legislation
- look at your risk assessment of the business’s customers, products and services
- look at the anti-money laundering policies, procedures and training you have implemented to manage and reduce the risks you have identified.
They may also:
- examine transaction records and related documents to check that the customer due diligence measures have been adequately applied
- evaluate your systems for identifying and reporting suspicious activity to the Serious Organised Crime Agency
- check that your staff are aware of the law relating to money laundering and terrorist financing and are sufficiently trained to recognise and deal with suspicious activity
- ensure you have adequate systems in place to manage your compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.
If you are a Money Service Business or High Value Dealer HMRC may inspect any cash found on the premises.
The full document can be downloaded in PDF format by clicking on the following link HMRC Guidance COP28
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05.08.09 Passwords stolen for tax returns
Posted by: BTC in General News & Cases, HMRC News and Guidance on August 6th, 2009
Gangs are stealing taxpayers’ passwords and submitting claims for tax refunds to be paid to them, HM Revenue and Customs has warned.
A series of attempted fraudulent claims through the self-assessment repayments system has been discovered.
No figures have been released outlining the extent of the fraud, but a HMRC spokesman said this was a new method of trying to extract money.
He urged people to ensure passwords sent to them by HMRC were kept secure.
“They should treat these details as carefully as they would a Pin for their bank account,” he said.
Attempt
More than 9.5 million taxpayers are in the self-assessment system, which was changed this year to encourage more people to submit their details via the internet.
Two-thirds of all filings for 2007-08 were submitted via the internet, rather than on paper.
When people apply to use the system they are sent a password through the mail which is then used when the taxpayer logs onto the HMRC website over the following 30 days.
However, fraudsters have been getting hold of these passwords and other personal details. This could have been by stealing the mail, tricking people out of the details or even finding the letters discarded in bins.
They then used these details to make fraudulent repayment claims, requesting funds be sent to other bank accounts.
The HMRC spokesman said this was different from so-called phishing e-mails which pretended to be from the tax authority and aimed to discover taxpayers’ banking details so their accounts could be raided.
Liability for any losses would be judged on a case-by-case basis, he added.
04.08.09 FSA bans Cornwall broker for fraud
Posted by: BTC in General News & Cases, HMRC News and Guidance, Professional Bodies on August 4th, 2009
The FSA has banned Cornwall mortgage broker Stephen Sanders for submitting at least three mortgage applications on behalf of customers which he knew contained false and misleading income information.
Sanders withheld information from a prospective employer relating to an investigation into him by his former employer which resulted in his suspension. He also failed to disclose to the FSA that he was the subject of an ongoing disciplinary investigation into his conduct by his former employer when applying to the FSA to perform a controlled function.
For the first customer mortgage application, the income as stated in the mortgage application, was substantively higher that that declared by the customer to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). In the second mortgage application the income stated in a mortgage application included some of the income of the customer’s parents which was falsely described as his own. And in the third case there were discrepancies in the application about the income sources of the two customers who were making a joint application.
Margaret Cole, director of enforcement at the FSA, said: “Sanders submitted mortgage applications which he knew to be false and this posed a serious risk to lenders and confidence in the financial system. Our work on mortgage fraud continues as a priority in our campaign against financial crime.”
She added: “We have banned more than 60 mortgage brokers over the last three years and we will continue to ban such people to reinforce the message that knowingly giving false and misleading information to prospective lenders is dishonest. Approved persons must also be open and honest with the FSA and prospective employers about their circumstances. Behaviour which shows lack of honesty and integrity will result in a ban.”
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03.08.09 Identity fraud soars in 2009
Posted by: BTC in General Information & FAQ's, General News & Cases on August 3rd, 2009
New Cifas stats paint bleak picture for the UK’s financial institutions and card companies.
Identity fraud surged by nearly three quarters in the first half of the year, driven by continued malicious online activity, and the economic slowdown, according to new figures from UK fraud prevention service Cifas.
The organisation was set up to facilitate the sharing of information on identified fraud between its members – which include banks, card companies and insurance firms – in an attempt to prevent further rises in all types of fraud, including online.
It said identity fraud, which includes victims of impersonation as well as the creation of fictitious identities by fraudsters, rose 74 per cent in the first six months of 2009 to over 100,000 cases.
Facility take over fraud – where the fraudster gains access to a user’s account and siphons off funds – rose 40 per cent during the period with over 11,000 cases registered.
There was some good for fraud departments however, with Cifas reporting an 11 per cent year-on-year increase in the financial losses avoided through the fraud data sharing of its members.
“The rise in the numbers of victims, and these very specific types of fraud demonstrate that fraudsters have no regard for economic, social and personal fragility,” argued Cifas chief exeutive Peter Hurst.
“While we all look for solutions to the hardships imposed by the current climate, however, these figures focus attention sharply on what responsible businesses and public sector organisations can achieve through sharing data on proven frauds to reduce losses and ease the burden of the recession upon us all. ”
Although not broken out in the survey, it’s believed that much fraudulent activity committed today is card not present (CNP), including online, fraud.
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31.07.09 Serious organised crime review published
Posted by: BTC in General News & Cases, SOCA - Latest News on July 31st, 2009
The Government’s new strategy for tackling serious organised crime, entitled Extending Our Reach: A Comprehensive Approach to Tackling Serious Organised Crime, has been published.
The strategy endorses many of SOCA’s current ways of working, including by seeking to cement a collaborative approach and to embrace wide-ranging tactics.
The strategy’s four main aims are to:
- ensure that all organised criminals are within our reach, using non-traditional techniques to create an improved intelligence picture and supporting the principle of lifetime management;
- use whatever tools have maximum impact, prosecuting when possible but also going further into using non-criminal proceedings, including to recover finances and assets;
- enable all of Government to play its part, including by strengthening the criminal justice system approach and using the powers of agencies outside law enforcement to combat organised crime together;
- maximise collective efforts overseas, and to work closely with the private sector and with the public.
Speaking at the launch of the strategy, SOCA Executive Director David Bolt said:
“Organised crime is constantly evolving, as is law enforcement, and five years after the publication of ‘One Step Ahead’ this is a timely and appropriate response. Our intelligence on organised crime has improved significantly, and we have new powers, the effects of which are starting to be felt. At the same time there are new opportunities for criminals, and law enforcement has to keep working to stay ahead”.
The Review is a strong endorsement for the approaches SOCA has been pioneering, and looks to extend those approaches more widely. For example, every SOCA investigation involves a financial investigation; we are making use of Serious Crime Prevention Orders and Financial Reporting Orders; we work with non-law enforcement partners and the private sector; we work with prosecutors to ensure that the best line is taken in every case; and we are exploring the potential for greater data sharing and matching. We know that other countries look to the UK as leading the field in many of these areas.
Through SOCA’s operational efforts in its first three years we have been able to identify over 5,000 individuals involved in organised crime at a level that makes them of interest to us. The people we are concerned about are mostly lifetime criminals. Some are overseas, some are in prison, but once they are in our sights we do not let go. We recognise that it is not a matter of dealing them a single blow and that we have to keep up our attack. As a result, it is likely that the number of people on our radar will continue to grow.
The main principles of the new strategy are sensible: all organised criminals within reach; all approaches considered; all of government playing its part; all partners at home and overseas engaged. We particularly welcome the specific remit the Review gives to other government departments and agencies: this is not just for the Home Office and law enforcement to deliver. Collaboration is the key. This is something SOCA has always promoted – the legislation that set us up designed us to operate on that basis.
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23.07.09 SOCA – Belfast Anti-Money Laundering Conference
Posted by: BTC in General News & Cases, SOCA - Latest News on July 23rd, 2009
SOCA – Belfast Anti-Money Laundering Conference
Businesses in Northern Ireland are invited to a free one day conference on Tuesday 22 September 2009 to learn how to safeguard themselves against serious organised crime and money laundering.
The event, organised by the Asset Recovery Working Group ‘Payback’ Team, and hosted by the Organised Crime Task Force (OCTF) and SOCA’s UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU) is aimed at small and medium sized businesses in Northern Ireland who are covered by the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.
David Thomas, Head of the UK Financial Intelligence Unit, said: “Such businesses – by their very nature – are vulnerable to abuse by those attempting to launder the proceeds of crime. The conference will make businesses more aware of their role in identifying any suspicious activity taking place during their day-to-day work, thereby protecting their business and reducing harm caused to communities by serious organised crime.”
This conference is specifically designed for employees of regulated businesses who are responsible for combating money laundering and aims to raise their awareness of the Suspicious Activity Reporting regime (SAR regime) and the requirements of the Money Laundering Regulations in order to better protect their businesses against the threat from money laundering.
The conference includes presentations on law and practice, as well as smaller sessions, providing sector-specific guidance from regulators and case studies from the law enforcement community highlighting the value of SARs in reducing the harm caused by crime.
The event will commence at 9.30am and finish at 4.30pm, anyone interested in attending should contact: eventmanagement@soca.x.gsi.gov.uk for an application form.
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18.06.09 Taliban, Al Qaeda finances recovering
Posted by: BTC in General News & Cases on June 22nd, 2009
Investigation shows Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan get money from extortion, crime and drugs.Taliban refer to extortion money as tolls, taxes or zakat
PESHAWAR: For the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, money is coming mostly from extortion, crime and drugs, an AP investigation claims
Funding for the Al Qaeda is more diverse and included money from new recruits, donations from sympathisers, and a cut of profits from honey dealers in Yemen and Pakistan.
“With respect to the Taliban, the narco-dollars are a major, if not majority, of their funding sources, and I think add in there as well extortion and kidnapping,” said Juan Carlos, a former US National Security Council adviser on terrorism who now works at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Afghanistan produces more opium than any other country in the world. The Taliban charge drug kingpins to move the opium through their territory. The United Nations estimates their annual cut to be more than $300 million.
‘Taxes’: The Taliban refer to extortion money as tolls, taxes or zakat. Money from drugs and criminal gangs makes up roughly 85 to 90 percent of Taliban revenue, estimates John Solomon of the US Military Academy’s Counter Terrorism Centre. In Pakistan, the NWFP governor puts the Taliban’s annual earnings at roughly Rs 4 billion.
Taliban soldiers are paid nearly $100 a month, more than the average Pakistani policeman. A Taliban commander gets more than $350 a month.
The informal money transfer system known as hawala or hundi is flourishing in Pakistan and Afghanistan as well as the US. Former prime minister Shaukat Aziz said more than $5 billion went out of Pakistan every year through this system, which operates without regulation.
In three of the last five years, the top source of money transfer into Pakistan through hawala has been the US, a security official said.
After September 11, 2001, the financial crackdown closed some of Al Qaeda’s sources of funding. But with the help of the hawala system, it has since re-established its money line.
Over the last two years, it has turned up the call for donations, told new recruits to bring money with them, and shown signs of being more frugal. This can either mean that it is saving up for another 9/11-style attack, or that the crackdown has curbed its fundraising ability.
Estimates of Al Qaeda’s annual spending vary wildly from $300 million to as low as $10 million.
Carlos said its main expenses were payments to families; food and shelter to maintain operations; travel and logistics; money for cells engaged in plots; bribes, and expenses for long-term plans like anthrax research.
Some charities with alleged Al Qaeda connections have renamed themselves. In Kuwait, the Revival Islamic Heritage Society, believed by the US to be heavily financing Al Qaeda, is still operating.
Because of demands from the International Monetary Fund, Pakistan has removed restrictions on the amount of money that can be brought into the country. It has limited to $10,000 the money that can leave the country, cracking down on some of the biggest hawala dealers.
“Once the money is inside the country, it is difficult to locate it. Smugglers and transporters help finance the Taliban either out of sympathy for their cause or because they are being forced to give a share,” said a security official.
A cartel of honey dealers is back in business, laundering money and moving drugs but the scale is smaller than in 2001.
A former fighter with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar told AP honey is sent from Pakistan with an inflated price tag to markets in the Middle East and the profits sent by courier to Al Qaeda.
Honey dealers in Peshawar said that there was no Al Qaeda link to their sales. But one honey dealer said the outlawed Al Shifa Honey Press was still operating in Punjab. He said he knew of no Al Qaeda affiliation
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5 June 2009 EUROPE’S ‘BIGGEST PEOPLE SMUGGLER’ JAILED FOR PIZZA PLOT
Posted by: BTC in General News & Cases, SOCA - Latest News on June 5th, 2009
An Afghan criminal who boasted he was Europe’s biggest people smuggler has been jailed for 9 years for smuggling illegal immigrants into the UK.
Two other members of the people smuggling gang were today sentenced to a total of 19 years.
The gang is known to be responsible for the illegal immigration of more than 230 young men into Europe, mainly from Pakistan and Afghanistan, although the actual figures are likely to be higher. Almost half of those were smuggled into the UK. The victims were then set to work in pizza outlets to pay off their ’debt’ of up to £10,000.
Kingston Crown Court heard how SOCA surveillance recorded Abdul Hameed Sakhizada in January 2008 saying that in two months he had facilitated 1800 people, claiming “I am Europe’s agent, I am the smuggler of Europe.”
SOCA worked with international law enforcement agencies to investigate the gang, which smuggled its victims through Afghanistan, into Iran and Turkey,then to the Greek islands, and into other European countries including the UK.
Seventeen pizza outlets were raided in January 2008 by SOCA, Kent Police,Northamptonshire Police, Thames Valley Police, Hampshire Police, and UKBA. The gang members were arrested and charged with conspiracy to facilitate the illegal immigration of persons into the EU and the UK, and with conspiracy to launder the criminal proceeds of crime. The victims found were dealt with by the UKBA. Subsequent raids uncovered false birth certificates and driving licences.
Sakhizada pleaded guilty at the start of the trial on 16 March. His role was to coordinate the crossing into Europe from Turkey to Greece – a service he also provided for other international gangs. Independent agents based in each of the other transit countries would manage the different stages of the journey.
The main organiser of the UK trade, Abdul Wakil Niazi, who was involved in the management and running of the pizza outlets, along with Sakhizada’s brother, Ahmed Shah Sakhizada, was found guilty on 21 May. They were sentenced to 12 years and 7 years respectively.
His Honour Justice Welchman called the people smuggling operation “a very serious and well organised enterprise, a complex scheme involving a high degree of planning”.
SOCA’s Director of Enforcement Trevor Pearce said:
“People smuggling is a serious crime which exploits vulnerable people for profit and causes harm to individuals, communities and the UK as a whole. This was a highly sophisticated and well organised criminal enterprise which was prepared to extort money from its victims and challenge the UK’s immigration regime. The message today is clear – the UK is not a soft touch for people smugglers. SOCA’s global connections mean we will find you and we will stop you.”
UK Border Agency Regional Director Tony Smith said:
“We are determined to tackle those who commit organised immigration crime and bring the perpetrators to justice. This was a major international conspiracy to facilitate the entry of illegal immigrants into the UK. “Those behind it showed total disregard for the law, and their motives were purely financial. We will continue to work shoulder-to-shoulder with SOCA, the police and other enforcement partners to stamp out any abuses of the system,and remove those who have no right to be in the UK.”
Janet Boston, reviewing lawyer for the Crown Prosecution Service Organised Crime Division, said:
“This was a profitable, sophisticated operation which was run in a highly organised, business-like manner by men who took advantage of those who willingly left their homeland and families to seek a better life. Inevitably these illegal immigrants were in debt to those who helped them gain entry to the UK and were put to work fast food outlets where the money they earned was taken to pay their debts. Any money the organisers made was channelled back into the people smuggling organisation – enabling the whole circle to begin again. “The defendants all had various positions in the “business”.
Abdul Hameed Sakhizada and Abdul Wakil Niazi were the main organisers while the prosecution case was that others fulfilled the roles of money collectors, book keepers, provided false documents and transferred the money overseas. This was a major people smuggling enterprise and thanks to the hard work of all the agencies involved and the prosecution team in presenting the case, it has now been dismantled. We will now be looking at making applications under the Proceeds of Crime Act for money made by the organisation and for Serious Crime Prevention Orders which will restrict the defendants’ ability to engage in this activity in the future.”
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3 June 2009 36 million spliffs incinerated as international crime gang is convicted
Posted by: BTC in General News & Cases, SOCA - Latest News on June 3rd, 2009
Over 12.5 tonnes of cannabis resin – enough to produce 36 million spliffs – has been incinerated after an investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
The drugs seizure, from the tug boat ‘Abbira’ which had docked at Southampton, represents one of the largest seizures of cannabis resin in the UK. It was destroyed in a specialist incinerator and needed 6 separate burnings to cope with the volume.
10 men were convicted at Winchester Crown Court today for their part in the criminal plot.
In a coordinated operation led by SOCA and involving Leicestershire Police, HMRC andUKBA, 12 men were arrested on the 09th April 2008, at the same time as a search of the Abbira began. Over a number of days, 419 bales of cannabis weighing 12.57 tonnes in total were removed from the fresh water, ballast and foam tanks of the tug.
The prosecution showed that an Israeli organised crime group employed an Eastern European crew to transport the drugs to the UK for delivery to a Leicester based criminal gang. Significant national and international cooperation was needed to target the various groups, and resulted in a lengthy trial with multiple translations and complex argument to prove the importation offence.
Andy Sellers, Deputy Director of SOCA, said:
“This operation was a massive success for international and national law enforcement cooperation. The quantity of drugs seized would have resulted in upwards of three and a half million street deals and would have funded a wide range of other criminal activity. “Taking out both ends of the criminal operation means that not only have we disrupted a supply route into the UK, but also a distribution network that would most likely have stretched right across the UK.”
Joanne Jakymec, Senior Lawyer, Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office said:
“This conviction represents 14 months of dedicated team work between several departments overcoming multiple language barriers. The defendants included nationals from the UK, Israel, Serbia and Ukraine, and as a result international assistance was sought from 10 different countries. The RCPO prosecution team presented over 5000 pages of evidence in support of their case, including material from Israel, USA and Holland.’
Commander Chris Pratt of HM Revenue & Customs /UK Border Agency said:
“The cutter crew and rummage teams used breathing apparatus equipment to remove the drugs from the Abbira’s water and ballast tanks. It took our officers nearly five days to recover and offload the 419 bales from these confined chambers. This was a huge amount of cannabis resin to discover on one vessel and an excellent result for all the organisations involved.”
Detective Chief Inspector David Sandall, who led the Leicestershire side of the investigation, said:
“This case demonstrates how different agencies can successfully work together to disable the international drugs trade. “Drugs are an international concern and to fight multi-national criminality you have to think, act and work outside the county boundaries. There’s no doubt in my mind that this drugs haul was bound for the streets of Britain, some of which would inevitably have ended up in Leicester. By working with SOCA, the UKBA, HMRC and authorities in Israel we have targeted the problem at the source.
“There’s £36m of cannabis that will never reach the street dealers and there are 10 men in prison for their part in this crime. Everyone who worked on this case can feel proud of their achievements today and the part they played in a much bigger picture, targeting international drugs criminality, while at the same time disrupting local drugs supply on the UK’s streets.”
The 10 men will be sentenced on Thursday 04 June 2009 at Winchester Crown Court.
Details of the verdicts:
Moshe KEDAR d.o.b 12/07/1927 (Israel) Guilty 29/052009
Yehezkel SREBRO d.o.b 12/11/1951 (Israel) Pleaded 29/09/08
Mordechai HERSH d.o.b 25/11/1941 (Israel) Guilty 29/05/2009
Mohinder Singh RAI d.o.b 22/02/1964 (UK National) Pleaded 29/09/08
Baljinder Singh RAI d.o.b 18/10/1967 (UK National) Pleaded 29/09/08
Anjum NAZIR d.o.b 01/02/1970 (UK National) Pleaded 17/02/09
Dragan STANKOVIC d.o.b 17/12/1954 (Serbian) Guilty 29/05/2009
Goram OTOVIC d.o.b 28/04/1955 (Serbian) Guilty 29/05/2009
Dusan MILEUSNIC d.o.b 07/10/1959 (Serbian) Guilty 02/06/2009
Negovan JOVANOVIC d.o.b 07/09/1950 (Serbian) Guilty 02/06/2009
Yaroslav KSENOVETS d.o.b 04/09/1973 (Ukraine) Acquitted 02/06/09
Sergiy KHODOS d.o.b 08/02/1983 (Ukraine) Acquitted 02/06/09
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18.05.09 Tax haven crackdown to hit offshore financial centres
Posted by: BTC in General News & Cases on May 18th, 2009
The number of offshore financial centres could shrink by half within the next five years as the worldwide crackdown on tax havens gathers pace, according to a prominent Jersey-based financial lobbyist.
Geoff Cook, chief executive of Jersey Finance, a promotional body representing the financial services industry on the Channel Island, said: “It is not inconceivable to think that the number of offshore finance centres could fall by half in the next few years.”
Cook was responding to a question on the future of offshore centres at a conference hosted by Jersey Finance in London last week. The Paris-based Organisation of for Economic Co-operation and Development lists 38 jurisdictions as tax havens.
These include Jersey, the Cayman Islands and Liechtenstein, and less well-known and small jurisdictions such as the Caribbean islands of Aruba and Montserrat and Nauru in the Pacific.
Cook and others reckon smaller offshore centres will feel pressure to meet increasingly tougher regulatory and disclosure rules from international organisations and governments demanding greater transparency.
Tax havens are being forced to sign anti-secrecy agreements, or face possible sanctions from G20 countries. An estimated $7 trillion (€5.2 trillion) of assets are held offshore and, according to pressure group Tax Justice Network, developed countries lose $180bn a year in evaded taxes.
Jay Krause, a partner at law firm Withers, said: “The next stage of development in international information sharing in tax matters will likely focus on establishing ‘automatic’ information exchange between jurisdictions.
Such procedures may in practice be challenging for some of the smaller offshore centres to implement.” Currently, Most offshore centres only disclose information on accounts when there is a specific request from another country that has signed a tax information exchange agreement with the tax haven.
Krause added that smaller offshore centres will also struggle to attract the required talent to defend themselves against regulatory pressures.
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