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Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) has directed the country’s banks to block and shut down 31,382 accounts suspected of being connected to illegal online gambling activities, an increase from the 30,392 accounts previously flagged by regulators.   Authorities have repeatedly warned that online gambling poses serious risks to financial stability, disrupts household finances and undermines the wider economy. Although many gambling platforms are operated from outside

Swedish law enforcement has stepped up its offensive against unauthorized financial intermediaries, warning that anyone acting as an illegal money transmitter risks long prison terms and the seizure of their assets. Criminal networks are increasingly leaning on loose, decentralized webs of willing or coerced individuals to move dirty money across borders while steering clear of regulated banks. The funds being shuffled through these channels often bankroll major criminal acti

Spanish regulators have confirmed a massive fine of 17,601,000 euros against CaixaBank following serious breaches of anti-money laundering obligations. The administrative decision was officially published in the Official State Gazette under resolution BOE-A-2025-26201 on December 11, 2025, and stems from failures in monitoring high-value property transactions that took place years ago. The penalty, one of the largest ever levied against a Spanish bank for non-compliance with

Ukrainian authorities have ordered internet providers to block access to Polymarket, a decentralised prediction market platform, after concluding that its services amount to unlicensed gambling under the country’s laws. The decision was issued in December 2025 by the National Commission for the Regulation of Electronic Communications, which instructed internet service providers to restrict access to online platforms that facilitate wagering without holding a Ukrainian licence

Austria’s Ministry of Finance is drawing up a draft law to underpin a new casino tender process in the coming months, pledging “uniform player protection standards” even as gambling operators renew their calls for the country’s long-standing monopoly model to be scrapped. The ministry has confirmed it is preparing the legislative framework ahead of the renewal of the current monopoly tender in 2027, a moment many in the sector see as pivotal for the future of Austria’s gambli

The Federal Trade Commission has asked a federal court in Nevada to hold the operators of payment processor Cliq, Inc. in contempt, alleging they violated a standing 2015 FTC order and seeking at least $52.9 million in compensation for affected consumers. The request, submitted in January 2026, is aimed at former Cardflex, Inc. and two of its top executives, Andrew Phillips and John Blaugrund, whom the agency accuses of systematically disregarding fraud-prevention duties whil

Denmark has formally submitted proposed new controls on gambling advertising to the European Commission for scrutiny, as part of an effort to expand the regulatory and enforcement powers of the country’s gambling watchdog.   On 13 January, Spillemyndigheden, Denmark’s Gambling Authority, filed a notification with the European Commission’s Technical Regulation Information System (TRIS), triggering the EU’s mandatory review procedure for draft technical regulations. The process

On the 9th of January, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday moved to dismiss its lawsuit against Guy Elliott, the former chief financial officer of Rio Tinto, bringing to a close a lengthy fraud case tied to a troubled investment in a coal project in Mozambique by one of the world’s biggest mining groups. In a filing submitted to federal court in Manhattan, the SEC said it was ending its civil action against Elliott “in the exercise of its discretion,” withou

Cambodian authorities arrested Prince TCO founder Chen Zhi in January 2026 after the United States Department of Justice connected him to what it described as a vast worldwide fraud empire, a dramatic enforcement move that followed an indictment for wire fraud and the laundering of digital assets valued at 15 billion dollars. Investigators have portrayed Chen as the chief strategist behind an enormous criminal enterprise that relied on forced labor to swindle victims across m

The European Union has acknowledged the substantial progress achieved by South African institutions in closing long-standing gaps within the country’s financial and regulatory framework, following a period of close international scrutiny in which the jurisdiction worked to bring its domestic laws into line with the global standards set by the Financial Action Task Force. Through the introduction of stronger oversight structures and greater transparency around beneficial owner

Nigeria has embarked on a sweeping overhaul of how digital assets are monitored, embedding national identification numbers directly into crypto systems to strip away the anonymity that once protected bad actors. The push arrives alongside the Nigeria Tax Administration Act 2025, which compels every virtual-asset transaction to be tied to a verified, real-world identity. By synchronizing its domestic rules with the global crypto-asset reporting framework, the government intend

A federal jury in Texas has found LaShonda and Marlon Moore guilty of running an enormous pyramid scheme that caused losses exceeding 25 million dollars, bringing a dramatic end to the couple’s operation known as Blessings in No Time. Prosecutors showed that during the global pandemic the Moores preyed on thousands of people through a web of deceptive recruitment practices, pulling in funds that were then laundered to finance their own enrichment. The verdict covers multiple

Authorities in the United States have broadened their enforcement campaign against overseas groups accused of washing billions of dollars in illegal profits through elaborate shadow banking arrangements, a move that follows a detailed briefing from the Congressional Research Service on how these specialized systems enable financial crime for transnational organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel. The briefing explains that these syndicates rely on underground banking structur

Sri Lanka is approaching a decisive moment in 2026 as it prepares for a crucial anti–money laundering evaluation that could shape the country’s economic future and its standing in the global financial system. Central Bank Governor Dr. Nandalal Weerasinghe has recently warned that failure to satisfy international benchmarks could push the country onto the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, a move that would sharply increase the cost of doing business with the outsid

For much of the past year, Europe’s gambling watchdogs have been fixated on two familiar adversaries: rising taxes and the black market. The higher levies introduced across several jurisdictions in 2025 were designed to raise public revenues and curb excessive gambling, while tougher enforcement was meant to drive illegal operators out of the shadows. Yet the headlines that followed painted a far more complicated picture. Licensed companies complained that their margins were

Castellum AI’s 2025 Sanctions Year In Review reveals that regulators around the world dramatically intensified their attention on digital currencies and Iranian-linked networks over the past year. Banks and other financial institutions found themselves navigating an increasingly intricate compliance environment marked by rapidly shifting enforcement priorities and widening differences between major geopolitical powers. During the period under review, the United States Office

On the 9th of January, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has informed four money transfer companies that they are under federal investigation for alleged fraud, part of a broader crackdown on abuses of social benefits in Minnesota, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Friday. Speaking at a virtual news conference, Bessent also revealed that several banks in the state involved in money transfer operations are being audited by th

The unsealing of a federal indictment in Cincinnati has brought to light an enormous financial scheme designed to funnel the profits of illegal narcotics sales across international borders. Yan Lin, a 41-year-old California resident, has appeared in court to answer charges alleging that he laundered tens of millions of dollars for Mexico-based drug trafficking organizations. Prosecutors say that from early 2022 through late 2024, Lin ran a highly sophisticated operation that

Chen Zhi, founder and chairman of Prince Group, has been arrested in Cambodia and repatriated to China for investigation, according to The Cambodia China Times, a Chinese media outlet operating in Cambodia. The detention represents a major development in a case that has attracted international attention over allegations of large-scale cross-border fraud and money laundering. Cambodian media reports indicated that Chen was taken into custody in Cambodia and transferred to Chin

Indian authorities have successfully brought 49 virtual digital asset service providers into the country’s formal financial reporting system during the ongoing fiscal year, marking a decisive step in tightening oversight of the cryptocurrency sector. This development follows an intensive compliance drive led by the Financial Intelligence Unit, aimed at ensuring that all crypto-related platforms function within the framework of existing transparency and anti–money laundering l