Glencore International A.G. and Glencore Ltd., which are part of a commodity trading and mining firm based in Baar, Switzerland, have admitted their guilt in sprawling schemes of foreign bribery and market manipulation that led to market advantages but also scandal, plea bargains, and a billion-dollar fine. Among many authorities across the globe, the complex… Read More >>
Allianz Unit Pays Billions in Fines via Fraud Case
Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC (AGI US) has admitted its guilt in what the SEC is calling “a massive fraudulent scheme” that hid the major risks of a complicated options trading strategy that the firm called “Structured Alpha.” The alleged scheme did not save the Structured Alpha funds, which collapsed and caused investors to lose… Read More >>
Jury Convicts Key Player in Malaysian Fund Scandal
A federal jury recently found a former Goldman Sachs managing director guilty of bribing government officials to secure lucrative deals through the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) investment and development fund, as well as guilty of laundering the proceeds on a massive scale. Following an eight-week trial, the jury in the Eastern District of New York… Read More >>
Congress Mulls Banning Itself from Trading Stocks
Remember that time in 2020, when the pandemic was just beginning and its dangers were not yet widely appreciated? That was when a group of United States Senators received closed-door briefings on the imminent crisis presented by COVID-19. What did these senators do right after their secret briefings? Alert the mostly unsuspecting public? Nope. They… Read More >>
NatWest Pleads Guilty via Fraud Case & Pays $35M
NatWest Markets Plc, a London, U.K.-based banking and financial services firm, has entered guilty pleas to charges of perpetrating frauds in the markets for U.S. Treasury securities and futures contracts, the United States Department of Justice reports. The NatWest guilty pleas, tendered in the District of Connecticut, were, specifically, to one count of wire fraud… Read More >>
Credit Suisse Reaches $475M Settlement of Bond Scandal
Mozambique may seem far from Wall Street, but of course it’s not. Not in this interconnected world. And that means that a bond scandal in far-away Mozambique has attracted the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the United States Department of Justice, and the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority. The SEC, the DoJ, and… Read More >>
Justice Department, SEC Focus on Stopping Crypto Crime
Two powerful extensions of the U.S. federal government – the Department of Justice and the SEC – are gearing up to counter the fraud, scams, and abuse that are the dark side of cryptocurrencies and emerging digital assets. Lisa O. Monaco, deputy Attorney General for Justice, launched the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET) this week… Read More >>
DoJ Begins 7th Fund Distribution for Madoff Victims
A former pillar of Wall Street, once celebrated for his financial acumen, died in prison six months ago. Meanwhile, restitution to victims of his epic fraud continues on. Savvy FTF News readers will know that Bernard L. Madoff’s fall is a cautionary tale, still eminently relevant. In June 2009, the infamous Ponzi schemer, and the… Read More >>
Julius Baer Laundered Money to Support Bribery Scheme
As expected, private Swiss firm Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd. (BJB) is resolving a criminal case with the U.S. Justice Department by paying a fine and penalties that are more than double what the bank admits to laundering. The full amount BJB will pay is $79.7 million. The bank has also admitted its role… Read More >>