Although financial institutions worldwide step up their efforts in fighting criminals from using their systems for money laundering, more than 99% of money laundering proceeds remain in the hands of criminal gangs. It’s not just the massive amounts of money that go unseized that’s troubling (UNODC estimates that between two
Payvision B.V./Rudolf Booker is now known to have been the primary payment service provider for the fraudulent websites of the Wolf of Sofia and Uwe Lenhoff from 2016 to 2019. Less well-known, but equally significant, is the fact that Payvision (a subsidiary of one of Europe’s largest banks, the Dutch
The payments landscape has undergone significant changes over the past decade. Fast-paced technological advancements have mainly driven the changes. Electronic payments in the EU have steadily increased, reaching a value of €240 trillion in 2021 (compared to €184.2 trillion in 2017). The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend. This shift
On 22 February 2024, the EU Council and the EU Parliament voted 28 to 26 to establish the new Anti-Money Laundering Authority in Frankfurt, Germany. This authority, anticipated in the highly regarded EU Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Package, is expected to play a crucial role in combating money laundering within the
For over four years, we have meticulously examined criminal files to decipher the operations of Barak and Lenhoff´s criminal organisation and the involvement of Payment Service Providers (PSPs) in these schemes. In recent months, as we collected information for the ongoing civil proceedings against Payvision and Deutsche Bank, we have
The criminal organization around Gal and Marina Barak, Uwe Lenhoff, Gery Shalon, Vlad Smirnov and their service providers (call centers, marketing affiliates, payment service providers) defrauded tens of thousands of innocent retail investors with their fraudulent websites (optionstarsglobal, xtraderfx, safemarkets, cryptopoint, goldenmarkets, zoomtrader, option888, xmarkets, tradovest, tradeinvest90) during the years
In July 2022, the British FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) confirmed that it would be introducing a higher standard of customer protection, requiring regulated firms (including payment institutions and e-money companies) to put their customers’ needs first. The new “Consumer Duty” rule consists of three elements: New consumer principle. The new
There are rumours that ING is eager to enter into a new settlement agreement with the Dutch authorities regarding the Payvision money laundering case. ING is quite experienced in negotiating settlement agreements for money laundering cases, allowing shareholders to pay the fine. However, considering ING’s checkered history of money laundering,
Why are acquirers to be held accountable for illegal activities The digitalization pushed by governments worldwide and praised for its benefits in efficiency and productivity comes with high risks for consumers. Online fraud is by now the most commonly experienced crime. In England and Wales, fraud accounts for approximately 41%
ING ´s ESG Committee is to enforce adherence to ESG principles On March 9, 2023 the Dutch ING Groep NV published its annual report for 2022. In this annual report ING Groep NV talks a lot about social responsibility (compare the section: STAYING SAFE AND SECURE) and about the essential
