Isle of Man’s Online Gambling Boom Is Upended Amid Asian Scam Probe
The Isle of Man, which built online gambling into one of the largest pillars of its economy, is grappling with a sprawling scandal after one of its flagship licensees was linked to scam operations run from the island.
FinCEN Issues Advisory Warning Banks on Payroll Fraud Tied to Migrants
FinCEN and other U.S. regulators on Friday issued a joint advisory warning banks to be alert to payroll fraud and identity-theft schemes connected to the employment of undocumented migrants, citing more than $2.5 billion in suspicious activity reported to the bureau in 2025.
FATF Compliant, and Struggling to Fight Corruption
Financial-crime authorities across the Middle East and North Africa hold powers that look adequate on paper but fail in practice, with anti-corruption agencies unable to freeze assets, prosecutors acting as political gatekeepers, and high-risk sectors filing almost no suspicious activity reports.
FATF Sees Progress, Gaps, and Growing Risks in Latest Singapore MER
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has removed Singapore from its enhanced follow-up list but the city-state’s beneficial-ownership safeguards, money-laundering prosecutions, and proliferation-financing controls are still falling short of the risks it faces as one of the world’s largest financial centers.
AUSTRAC Launches Probe into Bookmaker Tabcorp’s AML Program
Tabcorp, Australia’s biggest listed bookmaker, disclosed that the country’s financial-crimes watchdog AUSTRAC has opened a formal investigation into whether it was complying with anti-money-laundering (AML) rules and properly monitoring its customers.
U.S. Moves Against Asian Scam Centers, Sinaloa Supply Chain
U.S. officials on Wednesday struck at Southeast Asian scam compounds defrauding Americans and a global fentanyl supply chain, announcing criminal charges, sanctions, and the seizure of hundreds of fraudulent websites in a pair of coordinated enforcement actions.
Suspicious Gamblers Laundered Up to $144mn in Sydney Mega Club
Mounties, one of Australia’s largest club groups, allowed 13 customers to launder as much as A$226 million ($144 million) through poker machines over five years.
U.S. Blacklists Mexican Casinos, Businesses Said to Launder Cartel Cash
The U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on six people and businesses it said were tied to a money laundering and cash-smuggling network operated by Cartel del Noreste, a Mexican drug trafficking group active near the U.S.-Mexico border.
China Arrests Ex-Chair of Cambodia’s Scam-Linked Huione Group
Chinese authorities have arrested the former chairman of Cambodia’s Huione Group, a financial conglomerate identified as a central player in a global money-laundering network, in the latest escalation of Beijing’s campaign against transnational organized crime in Southeast Asia, The New York Times said. Li Xiong, a Chinese national and former chairman of Huione Group, was […]