Financial Crime World

FinCEN Sees Significant Progress in Combating Money Laundering, Whistleblower Tips Reach 240

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has made significant progress in its efforts to promote compliance and enforcement against money laundering and financial crimes. In recent cases, FinCEN has imposed penalties totaling over $20 million on entities and individuals that failed to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

Whistleblower Tips Lead to Successful Enforcement Actions

Since the program’s inception, FinCEN has received over 240 unique tips from whistleblowers who have submitted original information about suspected violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) or economic sanctions. In return for their help, these whistleblowers could be awarded between 10% to 30% of penalties collected if their information leads to successful enforcement actions.

Recent Cases Highlight FinCEN’s Commitment

FinCEN Director highlighted several recent cases that demonstrate the agency’s commitment to combating money laundering and promoting compliance. These cases include:

  • Kingdom Trust Company: FinCEN imposed a $1.5 million penalty against Kingdom Trust Company for willful failure to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). The company’s failures led to unreported suspicious activity related to a trade-based money laundering scheme and multiple securities fraud schemes.
  • Asre: A credit union BSA Officer, Gyanendra Kumar Azre, failed to register his own Money Services Business (MSB) with FinCEN. As a result, hundreds of millions of dollars in high-risk and suspicious funds moved through the credit union without proper monitoring or reporting to FinCEN.
  • Ban: FinCEN imposed a $1 million penalty against an individual for willful failure to design and implement an AML program as required by the BSA.

Conclusion

These cases demonstrate FinCEN’s commitment to holding financial institutions accountable for failing to comply with AML regulations. The agency is also working closely with law enforcement partners and private industry to promote compliance and deterrence.

“We are deeply grateful for the partnership we have built with the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (OCIF) on this case,” said FinCEN Director. “The era of ’easy’ money laundering through Puerto Rican IBEs is over. All financial institutions subject to the BSA must fulfill their obligations or face appropriate enforcement action.”

FinCEN looks forward to continuing to partner with authorities and private industry in Puerto Rico and beyond to protect the financial system from harm.