LEGAL – The News Desk

Costa Rica arrests ex-Panama presidential hopeful tied to money laundering case

5Dec

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Money

Costa Rica arrests ex-Panama presidential hopeful tied to money laundering case

SAN JOSE/PANAMA CITY, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Costa Rican police on Tuesday arrested Panamanian businessman and former presidential hopeful David Ochy on charges of fraud and money laundering, judicial authorities said on Tuesday, following an Interpol request.Ochy was wanted by Interpol for being central to a case linked to former Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli, who was in July sentenced to over a decade in prison for money laundering.Ochy enrolled as a presidential pre-candidate for Martinelli's Realizing Goals party ahead of the 2024 vote, which protected him from facing trial in the Martinelli case last summer. That immunity has since been lifted.Randall Zuniga, head of the country's judicial investigation unit, told a press conference that Ochy arrived in Costa Rica over three mon...

Stolen school district money expected by the year 9823

23Oct

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Money

Stolen school district money expected by the year 9823

In just under a year’s time, of the more than $1 million in restitution that contract electrician Calvin Gary Walker was ordered to pay the Beaumont Independent School District (BISD) for felony fraud committed on the public entity, the working businessowner has ponied up just $150 – or about $10 per month, according to the Jefferson County probation officer overseeing the criminal’s debt to society. Now, with a self-reported revoked electrician’s license in Texas and a monthly Social Security check in the mail, Walker wants to branch out to conduct business in Louisiana, as well. In November 2022, Walker was sentenced to serve 180 days of incarceration over the course of successive weekends and 10 years of probationary supervision, as well as pay restitution in excess of $1.7 million an...

Home Sellers Take On the Realtors Cartel

23Oct

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Business

Home Sellers Take On the Realtors Cartel

The 1.5 million-member National Association of Realtors spent $81.7 million on political lobbying in 2022, more than any other business group. Behind the teachers unions, it ranks as the most powerful special interest in the country. Though it claims to help consumers, it is a cartel that seeks primarily to enrich its members by expanding government control over middle-class Americans’ largest source of wealth: their homes.Consider Burnett v. NAR, a federal class-action suit that Missouri home sellers have brought against the association. The case, which went to trial last week, presents an existential threat to the cartel. If the plaintiffs prevail, home buyers and sellers could save $120 billion in fees each year. Half of the country’s real-estate agents who work as buyer brokers might ...

Column: J&J wants Congress to halt litigation-funded mass torts ‘money play.’ Are lawmakers listening?

13Sep

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Money

Column: J&J wants Congress to halt litigation-funded mass torts ‘money play.’ Are lawmakers listening?

Sept 13 (Reuters) - A Johnson & Johnson attorney told the U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee on Wednesday that outside funding of mass torts personal injury claims has turned the civil justice system into “a money play: driven, funded and distorted by legal and financial entrepreneurs.”In written testimony, J&J assistant general counsel Aviva Wein urged Congress to enact laws (or endorse proposed changes to the federal rules for civil litigation) to require disclosure when outside financiers are backing plaintiffs. She also asked lawmakers to take on the job of regulating the litigation finance industry and to curb allegedly misleading advertisements designed to generate mass tort claims.A bevy of business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National...

Switzerland drafts tighter rules to combat money laundering

30Aug

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Money

Switzerland drafts tighter rules to combat money laundering

ZURICH, Aug 30 (Reuters) - Switzerland on Wednesday said it had drafted new rules to tighten perceived cracks in its money laundering regulations, holding lawyers and consultants accountable for reporting risks and stepping up oversight of legal entities, such as trusts.The new rules, drafted by the Swiss government, will be presented to parliament in 2024 following consultation.Switzerland, whose banks make it the world's biggest manager of offshore wealth, has long sought to fight its old image as a place for criminals to stash ill-gotten gains. It routinely exchanges bank account information with over 100 countries.But it has faced international pressure to shed more light onto the shadowy world of corporate ownership, where many companies and entities like trusts cloak the identity of...

Colombian President Petro’s son arrested in money laundering probe

30Jul

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Money

Colombian President Petro’s son arrested in money laundering probe

[1/3]Police officers walk outside the attorney general's office on the day Nicolas Petro, son of Colombia's President Gustavo Petro, was arrested as part of an investigation into money laundering and illicit enrichment, in Bogota, Colombia, July 29, 2023. REUTERS/Vannessa JimenezBOGOTA, July 29 (Reuters) - Nicolas Petro, son of Colombian President Gustavo Petro, has been arrested as part of an investigation into money laundering and illicit enrichment, the attorney general's office said early on Saturday.The younger Petro, a politician in Atlantico province, had welcomed the investigation when it began in March and has previously called accusations that he took money from drug traffickers in exchange for including them in his father's peace efforts to end civil strife unfounded and harmfu...

Fed fines Deutsche $186 mln for slow progress in money laundering curbs

19Jul

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Money

Fed fines Deutsche $186 mln for slow progress in money laundering curbs

WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve said on Wednesday it fined Deutsche Bank and its U.S. affiliates $186 million for failing to sufficiently address money laundering and other shortcomings flagged by the U.S. central bank.Deutsche must prioritize addressing several of those issues or face "additional and escalated" penalties, said the Fed, which imposed additional restrictions and ordered the bank to improve its risk and data management.The Fed identified the previous issues in 2015 and 2017 consent orders, which stemmed from deficient controls in Deutsche's relationship with the Estonian branch of Danske Bank which ended in 2015.In December, Danske Bank pleaded guilty to a bank fraud conspiracy and agreed to forfeit $2 billion to settle a long-running Department of Justi...

Australia court approves $300m money laundering fine for Blackstone’s Crown Resorts

11Jul

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Money

Australia court approves $300m money laundering fine for Blackstone’s Crown Resorts

SYDNEY, July 11 (Reuters) - An Australian court signed off on a A$450 million ($300 million) fine for Blackstone-owned (BX.N) casino operator Crown Resorts for breaking anti-money laundering laws, ending the darkest chapter in the company's history.The company, dominated by billionaire founder James Packer before he agreed to sell last year, agreed to the payment in May after allegations over wide-ranging governance problems sparked inquiries in all the states in which it operated, plus an investigation by the financial crime watchdog. read more But the fine needed the sign-off of the federal court, which approved the penalty, Australia's third-largest corporate fine, on Tuesday."The penal orders reflect the serious and unacceptable nature of the contraventions", judge Michael Lee said i...