Danske Bank Whistleblower Will Give Department Of Justice Information On Massive Russian Money Laundering Scheme

The whistleblower who called attention to what could be the biggest money laundering operation in history has been given the green light to testify in front of the European Parliament, according to his lawyer.

Howard Wilkinson, the former head of trading for Danske Bank’s branch in Estonia, was instrumental in uncovering a Russian money laundering scheme that involved a company with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s cousin. In 2013, Wilkinson alerted Denmark’s largest bank that members of Russia’s security forces, the FSB, were using the bank’s branch in Estonia to launder billions of dollars. But the British bank official was required to stay silent because he had signed a nondisclosure agreement with his former employers. Now, however, Danske Bank has signed a partial waiver that will allow Wilkinson to testify publicly.

“Mr. Wilkinson has been granted permission to testify before the European and Danish Parliaments, and to provide information to the U.S. Department of Justice, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission concerning the money $230 billion money laundering scheme for which Danske Bank participated in,” Stephen Kohn, Wilkinson’s attorney, said in a statement on Monday. read more »

Tourism promoter charged by feds in Haiti port bribery scheme

A politically connected tourist and jobs promoter for Haiti has been charged in a scheme to bribe Haitian government officials over the construction of an $84 million port.

Roger Richard Boncy, 74, a dual U.S. and Haitian citizen who resides in Madrid, was charged Tuesday in an indictment filed in Massachusetts with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Travel Act, one count of violating the Travel Act and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. read more »

Texas Man Pleads Guilty in Ongoing Venezuela Bribery Probe

U.S. prosecutors said they secured another guilty plea in their ongoing corruption probe of Venezuela’s state-run oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela SA, or PdVSA.

Ivan Alexis Guedez, a former PdVSA procurement officer from Katy, Texas, pleaded guilty to a money-laundering conspiracy charge. He is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 20, 2019. Mr. Guedez agreed to forfeit the proceeds of his activity, prosecutors said.

Including Mr. Guedez, at least 15 people have pleaded guilty in connection with the larger, ongoing probe into bribery at PdVSA, prosecutors said Tuesday in a statement. read more »

Two Wells Fargo executives go on leave of absence amid sales scandal review

Wells Fargo & Co said on Wednesday it put two executives on leave in connection with ongoing regulatory reviews into the bank’s retail sales practices.

Chief Administration Officer Hope Hardison and Chief Auditor David Julian have begun leaves of absence and will no longer be members of the bank’s operating committee, the bank said.

Wells Fargo has been coping with the fallout of a sales practice scandal since late 2016, when it was revealed that millions of fake accounts may have been opened in customers’ names by bankers facing lofty sales targets.

Since then the bank has been hit with penalties including a $1 billion fine and a cap on assets put in place by the Federal Reserve. read more »