Europe
Former Italian MP gets 4 years for taking bribes from Azerbaijan politicians
A court in Milan sentenced Luca Giuseppe Volontè, former member of the UDC and member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, to four years in prison for corruption, Il Fatto Quotidiano reports.
He is accused of abusing his function,...
Europe
UK public warned about crypto investment risks
Consumers should be prepared to lose all their money if they invest in schemes promising high returns from digital currencies such as bitcoin, a City watchdog has warned.
The volatile nature of cryptoassets was highlighted again on Monday as bitcoin dropped...
Europe
Romania prosecutors probe ex-minister Costel Alexe over bribery and embezzlement allegations
The National Anticorruption Directorate (DNA) announced that the prosecutors have officially started the criminal investigation against the former Liberal environment minister Costel Alexe for bribery and incitement to embezzlement.
DNA prosecutors say that, in March-April 2020, Alexe, who was environment...
Europe
Denmark drops money laundering charges against ex-Danske bankers
Danish prosecutors said on Thursday they had dropped charges against six former Danske Bank employees as part of an investigation into the bank’s involvement in one of the world’s biggest money-laundering scandals.
Danske Bank is under investigation in several countries,...
Europe
UK tax authority fines money services firm MT Global $32m over anti-money laundering failures
Britain’s tax authority has slapped a record 23.8 million pound ($32.4 million) fine on MT Global Ltd, a private money services business, for significant breaches of anti-money laundering regulations.
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said on Thursday it had...
Europe
French bank fined $8.6m for processing payments for sanctioned Syrian banks
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed an $8.6 million fine on a French bank that officials said processed payments for blacklisted Syrian financial institutions.
Union de Banques Arabes et Françaises SA, a Paris-based bank that facilitates trade finance between Europe and...
Europe
Vatican, Australian Catholic Church denies knowledge of suspicious $1.8 billion transfers
The Vatican and the Australian Catholic Church have both denied knowledge of transfers worth US$1.8 billion which Australia’s financial watchdog says have been sent from Rome to Australia in the past seven years.
“That amount of money and that number...
Europe
Ukraine’s president Zelensky suspends Constitutional Court chief Tupytsky over bribery allegations
Ukraine’s president has ordered the suspension of the country’s chief justice, escalating a power struggle between the government and the constitutional court that has threatened anti-corruption reforms and derailed multibillion-dollar financing from the IMF and western backers.
The presidential decree...
Europe
Vladimir Putin’s critic Alexei Navalny faces fraud charges
The Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny will face arrest if he returns to Russia after investigators charged him yesterday with large-scale fraud.
Mr Navalny, 44, was accused of embezzling 588 million roubles (£5.8 million) in public donations to his FBK anti-corruption...
Europe
Turkish prosecutors issue warrant against businessman linked to U.S $511 million fraud scheme
Turkish prosecutors on Tuesday issued a detention warrant against Sezgin Baran Korkmaz, a Turkish businessman with links to Utah-based business executives who have pleaded guilty to a $511 million tax credit scheme in the United States, Turkey’s state-run news...