In October 2018, Finansiel Stabilitet, a publicly traded entity held by the Danish State through the Danish Ministry of Industry, Business, and Financial Affairs, took over the scandal bank Københavns Andelskasse (KBH Andelskasse). Financial crime and money laundering are said to have been committed by the bank. Furthermore, it appears that the bank’s legally mandated KYC and AML verification processes have significant flaws. Information given to EFRI and FinTelegram indicates that the bank collaborated closely with payment service companies like Moorwand, UPC Consulting, or ChargePay to commit investment fraud through broker scams. We possess proof of several dozen victims of different broker frauds who used Moorwand or UPC Consulting to pay the KBH Andelkasse.
Participating providers of payment services
The bulk of the dubious overseas transfers were made by three sizable clients of KBH Andelskasse, which raised red flags, according to auditing company KPMG. In the world of international broker scams, these three clients are well-known names:
Alain Bazille’s Moorwand Ltd.
Alain Bazille’s UPC Consulting Ltd.
ChargePay
Alain Bazille (LinkedIn profile) owned Moorwand Ltd. and UPC Consulting Ltd., two UK-registered firms. FinTelegram has repeatedly reported on these two companies’ extensive involvement in fraudulent and unlawful broker schemes. This control lasted until at least May 2019.
Based in Amsterdam, Chargepay B.V. is a payment service provider heavily active in the gaming and porn industries.
Ignoring thousands of alerts, hundreds of millions were laundered.
According to KPMG’s audit report, the bank neglected to properly do KYC and AML checks on these three customers. Additionally, KPMG discovered that the bank had not appropriately handled the more than 8,000 money laundering alerts that were brought about by customer transactions since August 2017.
Between October 2017 and September 2018, a total of around €550 million was moved from international bank accounts to KBH Andelskasse. The bank has sent nearly the same amount to its overseas clients. That’s the money laundering game, of course.
The majority of the money-laundering alerts were set off by 183 international customers, but they went unanswered until the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority raided the bank in the spring of 2018 and reported it to the Bagman Police.
The connections between the Marshall Islands and the usual suspects
Of the 183 foreign firms with accounts in the KBH Andelskasse, Capzone Invest was registered in the Marshall Islands. Regulators placed the company on a blacklist for selling investment products without the necessary authorization. Based on allegations of binary options fraud, the Ukrainian authorities raided the company’s premises in Kiev, Ukraine, in December 2018. According to a media report, the Danish authorities have reportedly identified at least 12 additional overseas consumers.
Online casinos, cryptocurrency exchanges, FOREX trading platforms (which include CFDs and binary options), cannabis shops, and a range of payment services accounted for 183 of the bank’s overseas clientele.
Twenty-five of the bank’s international clients are charged with taking money without authorization from people’s credit cards, usually after the cardholders have used the card on pornographic websites.
Those from Moorwand engaged
Renowned payment expert Alain Pierre Bazille focuses on high-risk illicit ventures like broker schemes and gambling. For cyber scammers, his companies are the first port of call. Despite having been born in France in 1952, Bazille primarily resides and works in the UK. He co-founded Moorwand Ltd., a financial services company licensed by the FCA that, up until April 2019, also ran the UPayCard and Paxept payment services platforms. His professional relationships with Dana and Pola Sliman Yacin are tight (LinkedIn profile) Following the public disclosure of UPayCard’s numerous scam activities by FinTelegram, the payment platform was promptly moved to PAP Onpoint Services Ltd., a company registered in Cyprus.
Robert Courtneidge joined Moorwand Ltd. as a director in April 2018. Alain Bazille left his position as director in May 2019. Additionally, Courtneidge took Bazille’s place as Moorwand Ltd. ‘s controlling individual in March 2019. Furthermore, in May 2019, Wael Sulaiman Almaree, a citizen of the United Kingdom, was listed as a person with significant control .
- Alain Pierre Bazille is the manager and founder of UPayCard, UPC Consulting, and Moorwand.
- Robert Courtneidge was a powerful figure in Moorwand.
- Wael Almaree is a shareholder in KHB Andelkasse, CEO of Moorwand Lithuania UAB, and controlling shareholder of Moorwand.
- Yacin, Dana Sliman, UPC Consulting Ltd.
- Yacin, Pola Sliman – Paxept Payments Ltd.
Moorwand’s participation with KBH Andelskasse
Internal communications from KBH Andelskasse state that in 2017, the three payment partners indicated above handled 80–90% of all foreign payments. In a statement, the bank’s former CFO, Jakob Guido Klausen, said that the Moorwand review had been a complete failure. He replied that the bank will have almost no information.
Numerous press reports state that Wael Almaree, a major shareholder in Moorwand Ltd., also held a substantial amount of control in KBH Andelskasse. For this reason, Moorwand and KHB Andelkasse should be considered connected businesses.
In just the bank’s IT system, Moorwand, a client of KBH Andelkasse, has set out 480 money laundering signals. There are rumours that Moorwand’s bank accounts were frozen with millions of crowns shortly before the bank was turned over to the state-owned Finansiel Stabilitet.
Moorwand is the preferred PSP for broker frauds.
Moorwand and UPC Consulting have been complicit in numerous broker scams in the past, aiding schemes involving investment fraud and the ensuing money laundering. UPC Consulting Ltd and Moorwand Ltd handled the bank transfers of the client victims, while UPayCard handled the credit card payments related to the broker schemes. A sizable portion of the client money that was pilfered from the broker schemes wound up in KBH Andelskasse’s accounts.
Bank: KBH Andelskasse
Account holder: Moorwand Ltd
IbAN: DK3878720006600337
Bank: KBH Andelskasse
Accountholder: UPC Consulting Ltd
IBAN: DK6878720006602028
Plans and trademarks that made it easier
Maketier Holdings (StoxMarket)
GammaTech (KayaFX)
Blue Trading (handled withdrawals)
Nostro Technology
BeAlgo – Algotechs
10brokers
XTraderFX (handled withdrawals)
24option
A straightforward computation
Assuming the data released are accurate, we may perform a quick computation to determine the approximate amount of money that was genuinely transferred to Moorwand, UPC Consulting, and ChargePay.
total amount of money laundered through KBH Andelkasse between October 17 and September 18, 2017: €550 million
Moorwand, UPC Consulting, and ChargePay each have an 80% share.
Annual money laundering volume estimated to be €440 million.
An estimated €1,310 million in money was laundered between 2016 and 2018.
Naturally, this computation is merely an informed approximation. We are currently forced to work with the officially available data because we do not have access to the criminal files. However, the sum of more than $1 billion for the three years between 2016 and 2018 does not appear implausible. We have witnessed the hoopla around both cryptocurrencies and binary options during this time.
Moorwand (As claimed)
Moorwand is a payments solutions firm with headquarters in London that provides compliance services, digital banking, issuing, and digital banking direct. We provide access to card schemes, banking services, and a range of payment services to help entrepreneurs in the payment and financial technology industry.
Moorwand’s goal is to turn payment compliance into a tool that helps banks, fintechs, and payment businesses innovate. Since we don’t think it needs to be difficult, we offer specialised knowledge to assist you in developing the greatest fintech solutions. Because of our background in both law and payments, we are in a unique position to help our clients comprehend the implications of legislation and foresee the next wave of innovation before it emerges.
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has granted Moorwand a licence to operate as a regulated electronic money institution, allowing it to issue money electronically and offer payment services.
Moorwand has a solution for you whether you are a business in need of scheme membership, access to single or multi currency accounts, and a regulated principle to provide payment services to you and your customers, or you are a regulated Financial Institution, Electronic Money Institution, or Authorised Payment Institution.
Many of Moorwand’s Agent and Distributor clients distribute electronic money that Moorwand issues or handle payment services on the company’s behalf. Agents of Distributors are not permitted by Moorwand to hold customer cash in connection with electronic money that the company has issued. In compliance with the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (“PSRs”), framework contracts govern the relationships between Moorwand, its Agent and Distributor customers, and payment service users.
Money Laundering (The crime case depicted above was all about)
The act of illegally hiding the source of funds acquired through illegal activities including drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement, or gambling by transforming them into funds from a legitimate source is known as money laundering. Many jurisdictions have different definitions of what constitutes a crime. Usually, it is an important organised crime operation.
The act of conducting financial transactions in order to hide the identity, source, or destination of money obtained unlawfully is known as money laundering under US law. The common law concept is broader under UK law. “Taking any action with property of any form which is either wholly or in part the proceeds of a crime that will disguise the fact that that property is the proceeds of a crime or illicit activity” characterises the act.
The phrase “money laundering” was formerly limited to financial operations involving organised crime. Government and international regulators, like the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, have been known to broaden the definition of this term in the modern era. They now define it as “any financial transaction which generates an asset or a value as the result of an illegal act,” which may include deceptive accounting or tax evasion. In the UK, any economic good will do in place of money. Money laundering cases are heard in court by drug dealers, corporations, corrupt government officials, private citizens, Mafia members, and even states.
Money laundering has been a hot topic in political, economic, and legal discourse as financial crime has grown more complex and financial intelligence is crucial to fighting global crime and terrorism. Since the acts that generate the money are virtually always illicit in some form, money laundering is ipso facto illegal (otherwise, the money would not need to be laundered).
Anti-Money Laundering( Importance of combating money laundering and how the above case would have been avoided)
The goal of anti-money laundering (AML) is to strip criminals of the proceeds from their illicit ventures, thus taking away their primary incentive to do such heinous acts. Millions of individuals worldwide are put in danger by dangerous and illegal activities like drug trafficking, people smuggling, financing terrorism, smuggling, extortion, and fraud. These activities also have a significant negative social and economic impact on society. Since money laundering legitimises the proceeds of these kinds of actions, fighting money laundering may significantly help society by lowering criminal behaviour.
What is Investment Fraud? (The crime case depicted above was all about)
When someone tries to con you into investing money, that is investment fraud. It is possible that they will want you to invest in real estate, bonds, notes, commodities, stocks, or even currencies. You might be deceived by a scammer or given false information regarding an actual investment. Or they may invent a fictitious investment offer.
Scammers who commit investment fraud may pose as financial counselors or telemarketers. They exude charm, intelligence, and friendliness. They might tell you there’s an urgent need for an investment. In order to get your money as soon as possible and with as few questions as possible, they aim to gain your trust.
SIGNS THAT IT COULD BE A SCAM OR A FRAUD
- Assurances that an investment will constantly provide large profits; generally speaking, whatever that looks too good to be true is.
- Those without a Tennessee securities sales licence.
- Individuals in Tennessee who deal in unregistered securities.
- Those that tell lies and claim to be very knowledgeable about your investing and retirement needs.
- Lacking the appropriate documentation that explains the investment (bonds need a circular, and stocks/mutual funds need a prospectus).
- Pushy, aggressive salespeople who immediately want your money, your answer, or your signature.
Wind-Up-The Financial Sector’s Detriment from Money Laundering
Numerous economic analyses have demonstrated the critical role that institutions like banks and non-bank financial institutions play in a nation’s economic development. These financial institutions support economic development by combining foreign and domestic capital. Money laundering, however, now hinders the growth of these financial organisations. The relevant financial institutions’ anti-money laundering protocols demonstrate that staff members engage in a connection between money laundering and fraudulent activity, which makes their combined efforts detrimental to the institutions. Financial institutions suffer when money laundering rates are high because of the use of these institutions by criminals to syphon off the funds they gain.
Customers’ trust is also weakened by these negative consequences. Thus, for developing financial institutions to establish a stable financial sector and grow the economy via them, the trust of clients and linked organisations is crucial. One of the biggest barriers to trusting important institutions is the perception of fraud among depositors, investors, the general public, and customers. Put differently, the act of money laundering tarnished the reputation of financial institutions, leading to a decline in customer confidence in these organisations.
