The crimes linked to the COVID-19 pandemic are particularly insidious. The EU is preparing to battle this fraud and corruption by setting up a new European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
We are sitting on an immense COVID-fraud timebomb, which governments will struggle to resolve, warns Martin Kenney.
The continuing ramifications of the Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme reminds us that in the battle against corruption, it’s time actions were matched to words.
The problem with the Serious Fraud Office is that it has constantly tried to over-hype itself and then under-delivered, argues our Senior Investigator, Tony McClements.
One of Allen Stanford’s victims said that Stanford was worse than Bernie Madoff, who has just died, because Stanford targeted middle-class investors. “He stole more than millions,” the victim said, “he stole our lives as we knew them.”
With new vaccines finally coming online and the impact of extended lockdowns and better testing regimes, there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel after the terrible year that was 2020.
UWOs were intended to empower UK law enforcement agencies to attack the UK-based assets of high-net worth individuals with shady pasts who owned assets of questionable origin. They could also be used to target UK-held assets of politically exposed persons (PEPs) suspected of grand corruption in their home states.
The fraud epidemic in the UK is now a national security threat, warns a venerable think tank.
The UK’s tax authorities should be congratulated on levying large fines against businesses that have breached strict anti-money laundering regulations.
With no fewer than four of the five biggest fines levied against financial institutions in 2020 against U.S. financial institutions, the new administration needs to do much more than merely combat poor business and regulatory practices.
