SAO PAULO (AP) ” Three top officials of Brazil’s Camargo Correa construction company have become the first business executives to be convicted in the corruption-kickback scandal engulfing state-run oil company Petrobras. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office says Judge Sergio Moro on Monday sentenced the three on charges of money laundering, corruption… – Continue reading
In cooperation with their Latvian colleagues, Ukrainian investigators have uncovered and frozen more than USD 80 mln (EUR 73 mln) worth of funds in Latvian bank accounts. The funds were moved there by Serhiy Kurchenko, a well-known associate of ousted president Viktor Yanukovych, the Russian LSM site reported yesterday via… – Continue reading
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has urged SA to increase taxes on the wealthy, tighten up on corporate and personal tax allowances and broaden the valued-added tax (VAT) base in order to raise the resources it will need to fund development, reports Business Day Live. The OECD’s… – Continue reading
After almost a year of wrangling, the EU Council and the European Parliament have finally reached an agreement on a new Anti-Money Laundering Directive. The 4th AML Directive expands the scope of its predecessor (which was adopted in 2005, before the global banking scandals and the push towards tax transparency)… – Continue reading
1MDB scandal prompts regulator to outline S’pore’s anti-money laundering regime The financial regulator has outlined Singapore’s anti-money laundering regime after an unfolding scandal at 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) put the private banking industry here in the spotlight. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said yesterday in a statement: “Singapore is… – Continue reading
The U.S., Japan and Europe are being accused of blocking developing countries from participating in efforts to combat international tax evasion. Policymakers have been gathered this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for the 3rd Financing for Development Conference, where discussions have been underway about ways to combat corporate tax evasion…. – Continue reading
The world can end the AIDS epidemic by 2030, the United Nations said on Tuesday, highlighting global success in rolling out life-saving drugs over the last 15 years. The UN Millennium Development Goal to halt and reverse the spread of the disease has been achieved, said UNAIDS, the global body’s… – Continue reading
In the midst of turmoil in the Chinese stock markets, one serious problem that may appear is increased currency outflows created by current and potential investors who would rather move their assets to foreign countries viewed as safer havens. Money laundering should be under close surveillance. Chinese involvement in money… – Continue reading
Australian authorities urged to undertake prosecution of those linked to property purchases KUALA LUMPUR: Three activist groups have lodged reports with Australian authorities to investigate overpriced property purchases in Melbourne by a Mara subsidiary for possible prosecution on grounds of tax evasion and money laundering. The three groups are National… – Continue reading
NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Negotiators locked horns until 2 a.m. some nights in New York this past month, trying to agree on a way to finance the United Nation’s bold new global development agenda — without success. The disputed 31-page document is headed to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa,… – Continue reading
Step aside, Doctors Without Borders. A new class of professionals is ignoring national frontiers to come to the aid of economically struggling nations. A team called Tax Inspectors Without Borders will begin helping developing countries deal with the flood of income to low-tax jurisdictions once it’s established next week by… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: India said it was cracking down on attempts to launder black money locally and told people with unaccounted assets abroad that it will become increasingly difficult to conceal these, urging them to make use of a window that shuts on September 30. The government will start receiving financial… – Continue reading
Five days after the emergence of the most serious allegations of large-scale corruption in recent memory, the PSNI has still not opened a criminal investigation. The TUV leader Jim Allister said that, after days of continued revelations about the irregular nature of the sale of NAMA’s – the Republic’s ‘bad… – Continue reading
Channel 4 documentary shows agents in wealthy districts agreeing to continue with purchase to be made with ill-gotten gains from Russian health budget Top estate agents in Britain’s wealthiest postcodes are willing to turn a blind eye to apparent money laundering by corrupt foreign buyers, according to an investigation by… – Continue reading
PIRAEUS: In Piraeus, the harbour town west of Athens, a group of sailors take turns to squat a ferry they once worked on. Protest banners flutter in the air. “Our money!” says one; “we’re starving” says another. These sailors say they haven’t been paid salaries for more than nine months… – Continue reading
WITH the aim of promoting tax culture in the country, the government has resurrected a law drafted in 2012 to encourage citizens to expose tax evaders and induce people who have stashed away their wealth offshore to bring home their money. By extending the legal cover to whistleblowers through the… – Continue reading
Lisbon: Portuguese prosecutors said on Thursday they plan to charge former interior minister Miguel Macedo for his role in a money-laundering scandal linked to “golden” visas, which handed residency permits to wealthy foreigners. The announcement came shortly after Portugal’s National Assembly decided to lift the parliamentary immunity Macedo enjoyed as… – Continue reading
James Angelos’ book looks at widespread tax evasion and benefit fraud Includes case of the island where 498 people pretended to be blind Also reveals how super-rich bought camoflage for pools to avoid tax Greece is on the brink of collapse as it decides whether to reject EU bailout Greece… – Continue reading
CASTRIES (St Lucia), July 2 (BERNAMA-NNN-CARIBBEANNEWS) — Chief prosecutors from Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean region have gathered for the first time to discuss recurrent issues that interfere with the prosecution of corruption and money laundering and the recovery of the proceeds of these crimes. Organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat… – Continue reading
Brazil’s federal police have arrested another former Petrobras (PBR +1.8%) executive as part of an investigation into a broader corruption scandal surrounding the company. Police arrested Jorge Zelada, the company’s director of international operations during 2008-2012; he replaced Nestor Cerveró, who has been convicted of money laundering and sentenced to… – Continue reading
When the HSBC Holdings plc (ADR) (NYSE:HSBC) (LON:HSBA) Swiss leaks story broke the big shock was that someone had produced evidence, not that one of Switzerland’s notoriously secretive banks had helped people evade taxes. We know that trillions are stashed away in tax havens around the world (the ICIJ estimates… – Continue reading
Premier Li Keqiang has strengthened China’s cooperation with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) after he signed two agreements with the international economic organization in Paris on Wednesday. China has also been officially made a member of the Development Centre of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development… – Continue reading
WASHINGTON, July 2 (UPI) — The United States asked Switzerland to extradite seven high-ranking FIFA officials who were arrested in May on suspicion of taking millions in bribes. Swiss authorities said its Federal Office of Justice received the requests Wednesday night from the U.S. Embassy in Bern on the request… – Continue reading
THE ROBERT Fico government is preparing an additional 30 measures by which it wants to combat tax avoidance and tax evasion in Slovakia. It wants, for example, to use cover companies to uncover criminal deeds, names of debtors should be published on the website of the Financial administration and excise… – Continue reading
Switzerland’s banks will beef up anti-money laundering measures, the Swiss banking association said on Tuesday, weeks after a report by a government-appointed group found the Alpine nation was still vulnerable to financial crime. More transparent rules due to come into force next year will make it harder for criminals to… – Continue reading
Chinese emigration continues to grow as the nation becomes increasingly wealthy. However, a handful of those leaving the country are wanted financial criminals, and they are heading to all corners of the world. While the United States and Canada continue to be popular destinations for corrupt Chinese on the run,… – Continue reading
PIA FORUM with DOREEN KAMBANGANJI Effects of money laundering and terrorist financing Min Zhu, deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), made the following expression on the effects of money laundering and terrorist financing: “Money laundering and the financing of terrorism are financial crimes with economic effects. They… – Continue reading
The “wall of Chinese capital” hitting property markets in Sydney and Melbourne will not ease up until the government introduces its anti-money laundering legislation, says an expert in ‘flight capital’. James Tee, an ethnic Chinese property developer whose business specialises in “capital expatriation” – that is, getting money out of… – Continue reading
GENEVA — The FIFA corruption scandal is prompting fresh moves to stem money laundering in Switzerland, but the nation long known as a haven for hiding money may be slow to change. The Swiss government announced new measures this month following the investigation of soccer’s governing body to tighten control… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Anecdotes about the first Income Tax searches in the T-20 IPL cricket tournament and a letter by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram seeking information about alleged illegal accounts by Indians in Switzerland find place in a new book on black money. The recently launched book “It’s Raining Black!… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: Anecdotes about the first Income Tax searches in the T-20 IPL cricket tournament and a letter by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram seeking information about alleged illegal accounts by Indians in Switzerland find place in a new book on black money. The recently launched book “It’s Raining Black!… – Continue reading
Following the recent property purchase scandal by Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) in Australia, Barisan Nasional Back Benchers Club (BNBBC) chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Samad questioned whether a company was created under Mara Incorporated for the purpose of being an “offshore tax haven”. He raised the question of the approval needed… – Continue reading
PETALING JAYA: Bukit Aman is ready to help in investigations into the controversial purchase of property in Melbourne involving Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) senior officers but there has been no request from Australia yet. Federal Commercial Crime Investigation Department Comm Datuk Seri Mortadza Nazarene said police were aware of the… – Continue reading
ATHENS, June 25 (Reuters) – When Greece’s tax police squad raided a busy cafe-restaurant in an upscale central Athens district earlier this year, it discovered two cash registers and an elaborate system of issuing fake receipts — at least 15,000 of them, over four years. Four months later, the cafe… – Continue reading
Indonesia’s tax office is considering a tax amnesty for financial crimes, in a move that could bring at least 100 trillion rupiah (US$7.5 billion) into state coffers, the director-general of taxes said on Wednesday, reports the Swiss Info. Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is grappling with its weakest growth in six… – Continue reading
Anti-graft organisation Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) has urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to conduct a thorough investigation into Majlis Amanah Rakyat’s (Mara) purchase of a Melbourne property that was alleged to have been bought in a scam. TI-M president Datuk Akhbar Satar said there were enough provisions in the MACC… – Continue reading
Indonesia hopes to bring billions of dollars in financial assets parked overseas back home – by pardoning past financial crimes. A Bill on tax amnesty is expected to be discussed in Parliament this year, said Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro. “A tax amnesty should not be seen simply as pardoning those… – Continue reading
NEW DELHI: A month after Parliament passed the black money bill – which targets those curb the stashing of illegal wealth abroad — a new law is in the pipeline to control tax evasion, sources said. The Special Investigation Team, which is handling the investigation into black money stashed abroad,… – Continue reading
Former head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) Valentyn Nalyvaichenko has unveiled the names of offshore companies which he says received the money of former Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine Eduard Stavytsky which was derived from Ukraine, Advisor to the Interior Minister, MP Anton Heraschenko has… – Continue reading
ROME (AP) — Italian prosecutors are seeking to indict 297 people and the Bank of China in connection with a massive money-laundering investigation reported by The Associated Press earlier this month. The suspects, mostly Chinese migrants living in Italy, include four senior managers of the Chinese state bank’s branch in… – Continue reading
India has strongly argued for widening the agenda for sharing of information on tax issues and has called for holding a roundtable on infrastructure to deepen investment in this critical sector. Railway minister Suresh Prabhu, India’s sherpa for the G20 meeting, raised several issues to highlight the concerns of emerging… – Continue reading
Paris, Jun 18 (Prensa Latina) The Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) had a network with intermediaries for Latin American countries who help launder money and evade taxes, it was learned here on Thursday. The revelation was made in this capital by former UBS Director Stephanie Gibaud, who met here with… – Continue reading
BERN, Switzerland – Reeling from an American federal investigation of bribery in soccer, FIFA was put under more pressure Wednesday as the scale of a separate Swiss investigation of suspected money laundering was revealed. Banks in Switzerland have flagged up 53 possible acts of money-laundering that could be linked to… – Continue reading
Blatt’s all folks!’ was probably the pick of the tabloid headlines following the announcement that Sepp Blatter intends (finally) to step down as president of Fifa. Over the course of the next few months, he won’t be the only person anxiously awaiting the outcome of the current investigations into alleged… – Continue reading
Julius Baer of Switzerland became the latest bank to start an internal probe of money transfers linked to an investigation of FIFA, world soccer’s ruling body. Julius Baer joined banks including the U.K.’s Standard Chartered Plc in reporting that it began an inquiry. The Zurich-based firm was named as one… – Continue reading
Unveiling the department’s plan of making the life of tax evaders tough in the coming days, Kapur said a new and intelligent database to keep a check on such instances will be brought out later this year and made fully operational by 2016 The menace of tax evasion is “spoiling”… – Continue reading
Dirty money resulting from crime, corruption and tax evasion is estimated to cost over one trillion dollars every year. It exacerbates poverty and inequality, and should be regarded as one of the most pressing issues globally. An Oxfam report found that G7-based companies and investors cheat Africa out of tens… – Continue reading
Minister of Financial Services the Hon. Hope Strachan said international best practices are evolving at a rapid pace, particularly as it relates to automatic tax exchange initiatives, tax transparency, anti-money laundering and financial crime, and e-commerce, reports the Bahamas Weekly. Making her contribution to the 2015 Budget Debate in the… – Continue reading
Heads of state meeting at the G7 Summit in Bavaria, Germany committed to promoting automatic exchange of tax information and tax rulings to discourage multinational companies from shifting profits from country to country to avoid taxes, reports Accounting Today. In a joint declaration, the G7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to… – Continue reading
Prime minister says he has proof he is innocent of charges of money laundering and tax evasion while president calls for his resignation Victor Ponta, Romania’s prime minister, said on Tuesday that he was prepared to go to court to answer charges of money-laundering, forgery and tax evasion as the… – Continue reading
