SARs | Certain Risk

TFI’s Hurley to Exit After Objecting to Minneapolis Crackdown

A senior Treasury Department official is preparing to resign after privately raising objections to a White House-backed initiative aimed at alleged fraud tied to the Somali immigrant community in Minnesota.

New Details Emerge on Epstein’s Dealings with Two Favored Banks

Newly released U.S. Justice Department emails and documents offer a deeper look at Jeffrey Epstein’s unusual relationship with JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Deutsche Bank AG courted, reports by Bloomberg and the Financial Times show.

A black-and-white view of the Charles Schwab office in Manhattan, with the sign edited to be gold — Attribution (CC BY-SA 4.0): “53rd St 6th Av td 19 - CBS Building.jpg” by Tdorante10, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution–ShareAlike 4.0 International. This version was edited using AI (the “Charles Schwab” sign was recolored to gold; the rest remains black-and-white).

Charles Schwab and the Palace Epstein Tried to Buy Days Before His Arrest

Long after his 2008 conviction for procuring a minor for prostitution and just days before his final arrest in 2019, Jeffrey Epstein had his eyes on a palace in Morocco. He wanted to buy it, but he needed help.

DOJ building entrance, Washington, DC — G. Edward Johnson, “DOJ entrance Washington DC 2025-02-07 13-27-05.jpg” (7 Feb 2025), Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 4.0. Edited from the original (changes made).

Paxful to Pay $4 Million for Helping Sex Traffickers and Money Launderers

Paxful Holdings Inc., a peer-to-peer virtual currency trading platform, was sentenced on Tuesday to pay a $4-million criminal penalty after pleading guilty to conspiracies tied to illegal prostitution, anti-money-laundering failures and transmitting criminal proceeds.

Photo of Deutsche Bank's headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. — “FRA Deutsche Bank.jpg” — Nordenfan, via Wikimedia Commons — CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) — Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FRA_Deutsche_Bank.jpg

Deutsche Bank Raid Focused on Same Years as Earlier BVI Probe

German authorities raided Deutsche Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt and a separate office in Berlin as part of a money-laundering investigation linked to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich.

Jack Zhang, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Airwallex, Australia speaking in the Start-Ups in Austerity session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, 20 January. Congress Centre — Jack Zhang, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Airwallex, Attribution (CC-compliant): “World Economic Forum Annual Meeting” by World Economic Forum (credit: World Economic Forum/Sikarin Fon Thanachaiary), licensed under Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 2.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).

Airwallex Faces AML Audit over Concerns of Child Sex Abuse Funding

Australia’s financial intelligence unit has ordered Singapore-based Airwallex to review whether the payments giant has violated the nation’s anti-money laundering (AML) laws.

U.S. Virgin Islands, Department of Justice, Sexual Offender Registry Photograph of Jeffrey Epstein, edited

Senator Seeks Info on $378mn in BNY Wire Transfers Tied to Epstein

Sen. Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, is pressing Bank of New York Mellon Corp. for details about $378 million in wire transfers the bank processed involving accounts linked to Jeffrey Epstein, according to a Bloomberg report.

National flag of India against a blue sky

India Tightens KYC and AML Rules for Crypto Exchanges

India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has rolled out stricter identity verification requirements for cryptocurrency exchanges, aiming to curb money laundering and terrorist financing, CoinDesk reported, citing Press Trust of India.

Actor Kevin Spacey in a tuxedo, smiling. — “Kevin Spacey-9262.jpg” by Harald Krichel, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kevin_Spacey-9262.jpg Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Elite Portuguese Prosecutors Take Over Dirty-Crypto Probe into Spacey Producer

An elite unit of Portugal’s Public Prosecutor’s Office has taken over a money-laundering investigation involving Elvira Gavrilova Paterson, a Ukrainian movie producer who helped promote alleged crypto frauds linked to Russian entrepreneur Vladimir Okhotnikov, according to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

TD Bank local branch location. — “MTA Flatbush South 76 - TD Bank” by Tdorante10, via Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MTA_Flatbush_South_76_-_TD_Bank.jpg Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Ex-TD Bank Employee Pleads Guilty to Helping Launder $474 Million

A former TD Bank employee pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder monetary instruments after prosecutors said he used his position to help a money-laundering network move hundreds of millions of dollars through the institution.