Financial Crime Matters

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Andy Greenberg, senior writer at WIRED and author of the blockchain forensic thriller “Tracers In The Dark.” Halfway into their conversation, they are joined by Tigran Gambaryan, head of financial crime compliance at Binance and a former IRS-CI investigator. Andy, Tigran and Kieran discuss Tigran’s detention by Nigerian authorities for 8 months as part of the government's effort to force Binance to pay billions in penalties, which was the subject of an in-depth WIRED article by Andy. They also talk about Tigran’s role as a blockchain forensics pioneer documented by Andy in “Tracers In The Dark,” and what each sees as the opportunities and challenges associated with the rise of digital assets.

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, Senior Director of the Counter-Extremism Project about the current violent threats posed by Islamic radicals, and right-wing and left-wing extremist groups. Drawing on his expertise as Senior Director of the Counter Extremism Project and years of diplomatic service, Hans names the extremist organizations that currently threaten to unleash global violence. While detailing some of the catalysts for the militancy of these organizations, including ongoing conflict in the Middle East and Africa, and political polarization in the United States and Europe, Hans also discusses what financial institutions and government can do individually and in concert to cut off funding to terror groups

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Geoff White, the author of three crucial books on financial crime, including “The Lazarus Heist: From Hollywood to High Finance: Inside North Korea's Global Cyber War.” Drawing from “The Lazarus Heist” and a plethora of recent information, Geoff details North Korea’s $1.5 billion theft of ether in February from Bybit, a large global cryptocurrency exchange. During their discussion, Geoff provides a decades long history of North Korea’s efforts to steal foreign currency, particularly dollars, and describes how its hackers used a third-party vendor and long-term surveillance to empty Bybit’s Ethereum wallet. Geoff also describes Bybit’s ongoing efforts to recover the lost cryptocurrency and argues for a concerted worldwide effort to prevent future hacks. “If North Korea gets its hands on this money it’s fairly obvious what it’s going to do,” Geoff says. “It’s going to be spending on, well perks for the regime partly, but its going to be spending on missile parts and nuclear weapons material.” In addition to “The Lazarus Heist,” Geoff is the author of “Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World's Deadliest Crooks” and “Crime Dot Com: From Viruses to Vote Rigging, How Hacking Went Global.”

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Michael Bruno, who is anti-money laundering program manager at the service’s national headquarters. Mike details some of the Inspection Service’s efforts to tackle the theft of bank checks that are “washed” to fraudulently change the payees and amounts and that are all too often stolen during violent attacks on mail carriers. Crediting the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Inspection Service’s law enforcement partners and a massive education effort, Mike shares how in roads have been made against check washing. He also discusses how the service is fighting money laundering and other types of fraud connected to the abuse of Postal Service money orders.

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Claudia Quiroz, Director of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, or NCET, at the U.S. Justice Department. Claudia and Kieran discuss the rise in cryptocurrency-enabled crime that necessitated NCET’s creation three years ago and the team’s subsequent efforts to prosecute cyber predators and seize the proceeds of their crimes. Serving as a dedicated nerve center staffed by crypto experts within the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of Justice, where Claudia is deputy chief, NCET pursues a variety of frauds and scams, money laundering and other abuses of cryptocurrency. During their talk, Claudia touches on some of NCET’s cases, including against “Pig Butchering,” which she points out often involves two victims: the individual who is defrauded and enslaved individuals forced perpetrate the fraud.

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with Adam Levine, Director of Government Engagement for the Child Rescue Coalition (CRC). Adam and Kieran discuss CRC’s efforts to enable law enforcement to trace online child sexual abuse material to its creators and collectors. During their discussion, Adam details some of the typologies associated with child exploitation that in tandem with CRC’s training and technological support has, to date, resulted in the arrest of more than 15,500 predators in more than 100 countries.

In this episode of “Financial Crime Matters,” Kieran talks with three individuals committed to exposing cryptocurrency scams and drawing attention to imprisoned investigative journalist Mech Dara, who is responsible for uncovering the horrific conditions and practices within Cambodian-based crypto fraud compounds. Zeke Faux, author of “Number Go Up,” Danielle Keeton-Olsen, a freelance journalist based in Phnom Penh, and Erin West, Deputy District Attorney, Santa Clara County CA, discuss Dara’s treatment by the Cambodian government and its seeming indifference to fraud compounds that enslave tens of thousands and operate in plain sight, causing the financial ruin of millions around the world. During the podcast, Erin touches on the success law enforcement has had in recovering some victims’ money, Zeke calls on VASPs to do more to interdict crypto fraud funds, and Danielle identifies some of the organizations working for Dara’s release.

In this episode of Financial Crime Matters, Kieran sits down with Michael Grady, chief of the bank integrity unit at the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division during the ACAMS Assembly Vegas Conference in September. Mike talks about the BIU’s remit to pursue criminal infractions at banks, payment service providers, cryptocurrency exchanges and other financial businesses subject to the Bank Secrecy Act. During their conversation, Mike discusses some specific cases involving institutions actively involved in breaking anti-money laundering, terror finance and sanctions laws, which pose a threat to national security.

Craig Timm, Senior Director of AML at ACAMS and a former Managing Director at Bank of America, dives into the staggering $3 billion penalties stemming from TD Bank’s anti-money laundering failures. He reveals alarming statistics about transaction monitoring, with only 8% of transactions properly scrutinized. The discussion covers the implications of ongoing investigations into employee misconduct and essential guidance for compliance officers to navigate liability. Timm emphasizes the importance of personal integrity and thorough documentation in maintaining compliance within financial institutions.

Detecting True Crimes with Great Accuracy, with Oracle’s Jason Somrak In this inaugural episode of “Financial Crime Matters: Industry Leaders,” Kieran sits down with Jason Somrak, Chief of Product & Strategy for Financial Crime & Compliance at Oracle Software. Jason talks about the Holy Grail of anti-financial crime practice: the ability to “detect true crime with great accuracy,” which includes canceling out the noise of false positives. Jason and Kieran also discuss the possibilities and limits of current technology as well as the promise for future advancements in fighting financial crime. During their conversation, Jason also takes a stab at defining what we really talk about when we talk about artificial intelligence.