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Western Union Pays $94 Million to Settle Lawsuit Tied to Laundering, Human Trafficking
By Brian Monroe
printWestern Union will pay $94 million to resolve claims by the Arizona Attorney General's office that the company wasn't doing enough to combat Mexican money launderers and human traffickers. The settlement with the Englewood, CO-based money transmitter follows an August 2006, $3 million settlement with Arizona after state examiners unearthed scores of anti-money laundering (AML) compliance violations, including some tied to human smuggling. Arizona officials also ordered Western Union to give investigators access to its national transaction data, a request the company refused. In court documents and statements, Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said that Western Union should turn over...
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The world's largest remitter has agreed to pay $586 million for transferring hundreds of millions of dollars over a period of several years for human smugglers, drug traffickers and fraudsters in the United States and abroad, U.S. officials said Thursday.
U.S. authorities will clarify in pending guidance that not all remittance companies are susceptible to illicit financial activity, a government official said Wednesday.
U.S. investigators are asking some of the nation's largest banks to tighten their policies on accepting cash deposits in an effort to choke off the financial channels of human smugglers.
The independent court monitor tasked with ensuring Western Union's compliance with the terms of its March 2010 settlement with Arizona prosecutors has been dismissed from the position, say sources.
The identification of suspicious transactions by financial institutions offers an important means of fighting human trafficking, the U.S. State Department said in a report Friday.
One of the world's largest money services businesses will pay nearly $10 million and share transactional data with U.S. states and Mexico as part of an extension to a 2010 settlement.
Money launderers working on behalf of Mexican cartels have moved southward after a deferred prosecution agreement between Western Union and Arizona gave investigators unprecedented access to remittance data in Northern Mexico, according to Vince Piano.
The nation's largest money services business has begun imposing new anti-money laundering checks on subagents in Mexico in an effort to comply with its March 2010 agreement with Arizona prosecutors, say sources.
For the second time this year, the nation's largest money transmitter has asked Arizona for additional time to upgrade its anti-money laundering program, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Arizona has granted the nation's largest money transmitter an additional three months to improve its anti-money laundering compliance program and avoid criminal prosecution.
One of the world's largest money services businesses is in danger of criminal indictment for failing to meet the terms of a 2010 settlement with the state of Arizona, say sources.
Money services businesses in Quebec are struggling to deal with the impact of unprecedented provincial registration and anti-money laundering requirements that took effect this year, say analysts.
The New Mexico Attorney General's Office has expanded its team of anti-money laundering investigators as a result of a 2010 settlement between the state of Arizona and Western Union, according to the state's top prosecutor.
Unscrupulous financial institutions, legislative delays and a lack of quick action by U.S. federal officials are allowing drug cartels to wash money in the United States "right before our eyes," according to Terry Goddard, the former Attorney General of Arizona.
A 2010 agreement by Western Union to share data with Arizona and other Southwestern states is the catalyst for a major AML prosecution that came to light Thursday.
An agreement by one the nation's largest money transmitters to better share transactional data with investigators has resulted in greater scrutiny, both for the business and its chief competitor.
The implementation of U.S. dollar deposit limits at Mexican financial institutions has sparked an influx of cash deposits into U.S. banks, who are failing to properly scrutinize the funds, according to Cameron Holmes, a senior litigation counsel in the Arizona Attorney General's office.
A planned inquiry by a U.S. lawmaker into a tactic used by undercover investigators in money laundering cases may come to a surprising conclusion: the technique has been widely used for decades, say investigators.
The U.S. Justice Department is investigating possible anti-money laundering compliance infractions related to how MoneyGram oversees agents working near Mexico's border, say current and former government sources.
A new U.S. Justice Department initiative to combat human trafficking has caught the attention of federal bank examiners, who are asking banks about transactions tied to the crime.