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The Lebanese Central Bank has introduced a series of regulatory enhancements aimed at responding to evolving financial threats and preserving the integrity of the national banking system. At the core of these reforms is a strong emphasis on deploying advanced screening mechanisms designed to identify illicit funds before they can penetrate the formal economy. Regulators are placing greater weight on transparency by requiring more frequent disclosures and imposing stricter sta

Former Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili has been sentenced to five years in prison following a plea agreement announced by the Prosecutor General’s Office on January 12 in connection with a serious money laundering case. In addition to the prison term, Garibashvili was fined GEL 1 million, or approximately USD 270,000, and authorities will confiscate cash seized from his residence that they say was obtained illegally. Without the plea deal, Garibashvili had been fa

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has issued a final decision siding with the Department of Justice in its effort to keep confidential a lengthy monitor report examining HSBC’s internal compliance failures. Granting the government’s motion for summary judgment, the court brought to a close years of litigation over access to a document exceeding one thousand pages that chronicles the bank’s past shortcomings and remediation efforts. The ruling concl

Nicola Brown, a 37-year-old resident of St John’s Park, Waterford, has pleaded guilty to committing money-laundering during the period of February 3 to 5, 2024. Brown made her plea at Waterford Circuit Court before Judge Eugene O’Kelly. She admitted to a charge of money-laundering contrary to Section 7.1.a and 7.1.b, having laundered €5,600 through a Revolut account. During the hearing, defence counsel Gareth Hayden BL requested that a probation report be prepared ahead of se

The European Union is preparing a sweeping package of retaliatory measures against the United States, including tariffs worth up to €93 billion ($107.71 billion), in response to threats by US President Donald Trump to annex Greenland, according to a Financial Times report published on Sunday evening. Brussels is also examining the possibility of limiting access for US companies to the European market as part of a broader response. The measures were discussed during a meetin

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

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

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

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

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

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

Prosecutors in Taipei have concluded one of the most sweeping financial crime indictments in recent regional history, charging thirty-five people for their roles in an elaborate underground banking and gambling operation that funneled more than 30.6 billion New Taiwan dollars, roughly equivalent to $970 million USD, through sophisticated digital channels. At the center of the case is a man who publicly appeared to be running a well-known Hong Kong–style restaurant while cover

IKEA has vowed to fight back against an Australian Taxation Office audit claiming the Swedish furniture company owes approximately A$171 million ($115 million) in unpaid taxes, saying it “strongly disagrees with its position.” The ATO believes that IKEA has shifted money offshore through disputed transfer pricing and royalty arrangements. IKEA’s Australian business is reportedly structured in a way that reduces taxable income in Australia by paying franchise fees, licence fee

The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), together with its enforcement committee, has concluded a sanction procedure against M Capital Partners, imposing a total fine of 150,000 euros on the portfolio management company and several of its executives. The decision, rendered on December 31, 2025, targets a series of serious regulatory breaches, notably the provision of investment services without proper authorization and long-standing failures in the firm’s anti-money launder