Every so often, Bitcoin hits the news because a criminal gang is using it for some nefarious purpose. We examined BitCoin in a special issue (see here) in 2013. It was not our first look at virtual currencies: that was way back in the mid 1990s, before we even launched World Money Laundering Report, and we've kept a watching brief ever since. Here's the current scary stuff.
Malaysia's National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency has banned sales of several products produced by "Dr Vida," who has become wealthy selling, amongst other things, Qu Gebu AP Krim.
If you are a fan of motor racing, don't bother with yesterday's Monaco Grand Prix. An utterly dull procession for almost the entire event was punctuated only by odd-ball happenings and intrigue. If you are a conspiracy theorist and find humour in the oddest places, there might be something for you. But first, this telephone call from Fernando Alonso waiting to drive in the Indy 500 to Button, in the car on the way down the pit lane to his own, personal, lonely, starting line.
There is something almost sad about Angela Merkel's campaign to remain relevant in world, EU and, even, German politics. Increasingly isolated on all fronts, her political rallies are carefully photographed to give the impression of many supporters rather then the dozens that actually turn up. And she's trying to find pro-EU leaders to cozy up to - in denial of the fact that her brand of EU politics is one of the things most putting the future of the Union at risk. Increasingly strident, demanding, almost hectoring of her audience, Merkel is beginning to sound like an extremist, even if her words speak of a particular form of unity. Then again, she might just be positioning herself for a...
Some people think Jenson Button is just doing a contractual obligation race because he's possibly the most relaxed man, woman or child in the entire paddock. Hell, sans alcool, he may just be the most relaxed person in Monaco. Does that mean he's dozing off? Not at all: the consummate racing professional is back, and with it McLaren's best brand ambassador. Just don't mention Honda...
Long long ago, there was a phrase circulating among money laundering investigators that in every money laundering scheme, there is a lawyer. The Financial Conduct Authority, in an action in the Central Criminal Court, has proved that you can't run a property fraud unless someone is doing the paperwork and, in the UK, that's likely to be a solicitor.
The news that two bombs were detonated, about five minutes apart, at a busy bus station in Jakarta last night is, at the time of writing, the latest in a series of mass murders, apparently perpetrated under the false-flag of Islam. The bus station, in the Eastern part of the city, is a primary transport hub for working class Indonesians, the vast majority of whom are Muslim. The two suicide bombers succeeded in killing three police officers and injuring about 30 members of the public. What is worse, is that the attacks are disrupting preparations for the Holy Month of Ramadan which begins on Saturday.
"Diploma, established in 1976, is a publicly listed commercial construction and property development company, undertaking a diverse portfolio of commercial, retail and high density residential projects," according to its website but Australia's corporate regulator, ASIC, has appointed liquidators to the group. Its shares on ASX have been suspended since the end of August 2016
The full details have yet to be uncovered but police are certain of one thing: the bomb that was triggered by a suicide attacker in the lobby of the Manchester Arena late last night is being classified as terrorism. Who, what and why remains to be seen but the fact that a second device, apparently intended to cause harm to those escaping from the first and/or emergency services arriving on the scene are indicative of long-established terrorism tactics.
We are all internet users and the internet is supposed to be a broadly free medium (albeit one we pay for) but there was one piece of regulation that militated against all good sense in the cause of supposed equality for all. So-called Net Neutrality is a flawed interference in the freedom of commercial concerns to enter into agreements with individual customers and, more than that, it risks damaging commerce. Now the USA is proposing to reverse the position taken under the Obama government. This is why it should do so. But equally, this is why one major element of it must remain.
We have identified illegal copies of World Money Laundering Report publicised on YouTube, a Google / Alphabet company via a link to a domain difa.us which is registered behind an anonymous e-mail account. When we looked further into the circumstances we found illegal copies of the works of a number of other publishers of professional material including Lexis-Nexis posted under several apparent aliases.
We know that companies gather data when you interact with them (even we do, but it's very, very little and what we do with it is mostly for our protection) but do you know what they collect?
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