Financial Crime Matters

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Michael Bruno, who is anti-money laundering program manager at the service’s national headquarters. Mike details some of the Inspection Service’s efforts to tackle the theft of bank checks that are “washed” to fraudulently change the payees and amounts and that are all too often stolen during violent attacks on mail carriers. Crediting the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Inspection Service’s law enforcement partners and a massive education effort, Mike shares how in roads have been made against check washing. He also discusses how the service is fighting money laundering and other types of fraud connected to the abuse of Postal Service money orders.

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Claudia Quiroz, Director of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, or NCET, at the U.S. Justice Department. Claudia and Kieran discuss the rise in cryptocurrency-enabled crime that necessitated NCET’s creation three years ago and the team’s subsequent efforts to prosecute cyber predators and seize the proceeds of their crimes. Serving as a dedicated nerve center staffed by crypto experts within the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of Justice, where Claudia is deputy chief, NCET pursues a variety of frauds and scams, money laundering and other abuses of cryptocurrency. During their talk, Claudia touches on some of NCET’s cases, including against “Pig Butchering,” which she points out often involves two victims: the individual who is defrauded and enslaved individuals forced perpetrate the fraud.

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Adam Levine, Director of Government Engagement for the Child Rescue Coalition (CRC). Adam and Kieran discuss CRC’s efforts to enable law enforcement to trace online child sexual abuse material to its creators and collectors. During their discussion, Adam details some of the typologies associated with child exploitation that in tandem with CRC’s training and technological support has, to date, resulted in the arrest of more than 15,500 predators in more than 100 countries.

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with three individuals committed to exposing cryptocurrency scams and drawing attention to imprisoned investigative journalist Mech Dara, who is responsible for uncovering the horrific conditions and practices within Cambodian-based crypto fraud compounds. Zeke Faux, author of “Number Go Up,” Danielle Keeton-Olsen, a freelance journalist based in Phnom Penh, and Erin West, Deputy District Attorney, Santa Clara County CA, discuss Dara’s treatment by the Cambodian government and its seeming indifference to fraud compounds that enslave tens of thousands and operate in plain sight, causing the financial ruin of millions around the world. During the podcast, Erin touches on the success law enforcement has had in recovering some victims’ money, Zeke calls on VASPs to do more to interdict crypto fraud funds, and Danielle identifies some of the organizations working for Dara’s release.

In this episode of Financial Crime Matters, Kieran sits down with Michael Grady, chief of the bank integrity unit at the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division during the ACAMS Assembly Vegas Conference in September. Mike talks about the BIU’s remit to pursue criminal infractions at banks, payment service providers, cryptocurrency exchanges and other financial businesses subject to the Bank Secrecy Act. During their conversation, Mike discusses some specific cases involving institutions actively involved in breaking anti-money laundering, terror finance and sanctions laws, which pose a threat to national security.

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters”, Kieran talks with ACAMS colleague, Craig Timm, Senior Director of AML at ACAMS. Craig and Kieran do a deep dive into the recent settlements by TD Bank with the US Department of Justice, the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network that resulted in more than $3 billion in monetary penalties, ongoing remediation and monitorships, as well as the prosecution of two bank insiders. With more individual prosecutions likely, Craig and Kieran layout the lessons for financial institutions from settlements and discuss how compliance professionals can protect themselves from culpability when their financial institutions go astray.

Detecting True Crimes with Great Accuracy, with Oracle’s Jason Somrak In this inaugural episode of “Financial Crime Matters: Industry Leaders,” Kieran sits down with Jason Somrak, Chief of Product & Strategy for Financial Crime & Compliance at Oracle Software. Jason talks about the Holy Grail of anti-financial crime practice: the ability to “detect true crime with great accuracy,” which includes canceling out the noise of false positives. Jason and Kieran also discuss the possibilities and limits of current technology as well as the promise for future advancements in fighting financial crime. During their conversation, Jason also takes a stab at defining what we really talk about when we talk about artificial intelligence.

Understanding Canada’s Enhanced Regulatory Regime, with Jacqueline Shinfield. In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Toronto-based attorney Jacqueline Shinfield, co-lead of Blakes’ Financial Services Regulatory Group. Jackie details the unfolding revolution in Canadian anti-money laundering and counter terror finance, including creation of a safe harbor for information sharing among FINTRAC regulated entities and new sanctions reporting requirements. Setting the stage for ACAMS upcoming “The Assembly Canada” November 6 and 7, Jackie also talks about how far Canada has come since the Cullen Commission Report by explaining the new role title insurers will play in verifying beneficial ownership in real estate transactions and the new powers FINTRAC will have to examine foreign interference in Canada’s financial system.

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Chris Ainsley, head of fraud risk management at Santander Bank. Drawing on more than 20-year history at Santander, Chris details how financial institutions like his are fighting the current spike in online fraud that utilizes elaborate schemes to get customers to authorize payments from their accounts into the accounts of scammers. With it now being possible to conduct all our banking, buying, selling and a host of other transactions online, banks are tasked with educating customers about the intricate subterfuges to trick them into authorizing payments to criminals, says Chris. Financial institutions are having “very complex conversations” with customers to save them from victimization. “It’s not just “why are you making a payment at 2 pm in a foreign country’” anymore, which often involved a stolen or cloned ATM card that the bank quickly canceled and replaced, Chris says. Now, it’s sometimes about engaging a client at length as to why they want to make a seemingly dodgy transaction and warning them of the risk.