BERLIN – Financial Treason & Crime

05/20/202105/22/2021

Article: Two Camden County Residents Charged with Conspiracy to Defraud Victims of More Than $1.4 Million in Coronavirus Relief Fraud Scheme

Two Camden County Residents Charged with Conspiracy to Defraud Victims of More Than $1.4 Million in Coronavirus Relief Fraud Scheme

Department of Justice, 20 May 2021

CAMDEN, N.J. – Two Camden County, New Jersey, residents were charged for their role in fraudulently obtaining federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) totaling $1.4 million, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced today.

Stephen Bennett, 45, of Berlin, New Jersey, and Rhonda Thomas, 36, of Sicklerville, New Jersey, are each charged by complaint with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, one count of bank fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Bennett and Thomas are scheduled to appear by videoconference today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen M. Williams. Continue reading “Article: Two Camden County Residents Charged with Conspiracy to Defraud Victims of More Than $1.4 Million in Coronavirus Relief Fraud Scheme”

01/15/202104/03/2021

Article: German court halts criminal proceedings against former VW CEO

Article - Media, Publications

German court halts criminal proceedings against former VW CEO

Caroline Copley, 15 January 2021

BERLIN (Reuters) – A German court in Braunschweig, Germany, said on Friday it had halted criminal proceedings against former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn for alleged market manipulation as part of the carmaker’s emissions scandal.

The court said it had decided to discontinue the proceedings as the expected sentence in another case, in which Winterkorn faces charges for his role in allowing diesel cars with excessive pollution levels to hit the road, was higher.

“In this context, the conviction for market manipulation would not lead to a significant increase in the overall sentence,” the court said in a statement.

The court opened proceedings in September examining whether Winterkorn was guilty of failing to inform investors adequately about the extent of the emissions fraud.

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09/21/202004/12/2021

Article: Germany says FinCEN money laundering revelations are not new

Article - Media, Publications

Germany says FinCEN money laundering revelations are not new

Holger Hansen and Andreas Rinke, 21 September 2020

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s finance ministry said on Monday that a slew of news reports about money laundering among global banks including Deutsche Bank DBKGn.DE did not appear to contain revelations which were unknown.

“To the best of our knowledge, the cases with a German connection have been dealt with and the necessary consequences have been drawn,” a spokeswoman said.

German regulator BaFin is a unit of Germany’s Finance Ministry.

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06/23/202003/24/2021

Article: German watchdog updates market manipulation case against Wirecard

Article - Media, Publications

German watchdog updates market manipulation case against Wirecard

Douglas Busvine, 23 June 2020

BERLIN, June 23 (Reuters) – Germany’s financial watchdog said on Tuesday it had filed an updated case against Wirecard , saying the collapsed payment company’s disclosure of a $2.1 billion financial hole showed it had sought to mislead markets.

The regulator Bafin said it had filed a follow-up to an earlier complaint with Munich prosecutors as it now suspected Wirecard’s accounts for 2016, 2017 and 2018 had misstated revenues and assets.

“This also strengthens the suspicion that the information contained in its financial reports sent false signals for Wirecard’s share price and thus violated a ban on market manipulation,” Bafin said in a statement.

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06/05/202003/24/2021

Article: Prosecutors search Wirecard premises in market manipulation probe

Article - Media, Publications

Prosecutors search Wirecard premises in market manipulation probe

Thomas Escritt, 05 June 2020

BERLIN, June 5 (Reuters) – Prosecutors in Munich said they had searched the premises of financial services company Wirecard and opened proceedings against its management board as part of a market manipulation probe by BaFin, Germany’s financial regulator.

In a statement on Friday, prosecutors said the company was suspected of having issued misleading information which may have impacted Wirecard’s share price between March 12 and April 22.

Wirecard confirmed in a statement that its premises had been searched as part of an investiugation targeting its management board. It said it was cooperating fully with the investigation.

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