Financial institutions face new challenges in identifying human trafficking payments following the federal government’s dismantlement of Backpage.com, the most widely used high-profile website for advertising prostitution, say sources.
Human traffickers are forcing victims to obtain loans to finance their activities and open bank accounts to move and conceal their proceeds without drawing the attention of investigators and compliance officers, a Washington, D.C.-based group claimed Thursday.
A network of at least 11 brothels in midtown Manhattan that was investigated and dismantled last year used dozens of personal and commercial accounts at some of the largest financial institutions in the United States to deposit more than $1.4 million in cash over five years.
Bangladesh police suspect that IT employees secretly participated in the Bangladesh Bank $81 million cyberheist, Panama barred Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht from doing business in the nation, and more, in this week's roundup.