Article: Bank Julius Baer Agrees to Pay More than $79 Million for Laundering Money in FIFA Scandal

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Bank Julius Baer Agrees to Pay More than $79 Million for Laundering Money in FIFA Scandal

Department of Justice, 27 May 2021

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd. (BJB or the Bank), a Swiss bank with international operations, has admitted today in federal court in Brooklyn that it conspired to launder over $36 million in bribes through the United States to soccer officials with the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and other soccer federations, in furtherance of a scheme in which sports marketing companies bribed soccer officials in exchange for broadcasting rights to soccer matches. The proceeding was held before U.S. District Judge Pamela K. Chen.

The Bank made these admissions and entered into a three-year deferred prosecution agreement with the department in connection with a criminal information filed today in the Eastern District of New York charging the Bank with conspiring to commit money laundering. As part of this agreement, the Bank has agreed to pay more than $79 million in penalties (including a fine of $43,320,000 and forfeiture of $36,368,400) to resolve the investigation into its involvement in a money laundering conspiracy that fueled this international soccer bribery scheme. Continue reading “Article: Bank Julius Baer Agrees to Pay More than $79 Million for Laundering Money in FIFA Scandal”

Article: Five Charged in Offering Fraud, Stock Manipulation, Ranging from Oil to Pot

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Five Charged in Offering Fraud, Stock Manipulation, Ranging from Oil to Pot

Michael Katz, 30 April 2021

Five people have been charged in federal court for their involvement in two securities fraud schemes. According to prosecutors, the schemes involved an offering fraud of a Texas-based oil and gas company and the attempted manipulation of a cannabis company’s publicly traded stock.

An indictment was filed in the Eastern District of New York against Richard Dale Sterritt Jr., Michael Greer, Robert Magness, Mark Ross, and Robyn Straza charging them with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, among other offenses.

“Through a web of related schemes, Sterritt and his co-defendants allegedly stole millions of dollars from investors, attempted to manipulate a publicly traded stock and laundered the proceeds of their crimes through the purchase of luxury items like a Bentley,” Mark Lesko, acting US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a statement. Continue reading “Article: Five Charged in Offering Fraud, Stock Manipulation, Ranging from Oil to Pot”

Article: Five Individuals Charged in Offering Fraud, Stock Manipulation and Money Laundering Schemes

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Five Individuals Charged in Offering Fraud, Stock Manipulation and Money Laundering Schemes

Department of Justice, 14 April 2021

A five-count indictment was filed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Richard Dale Sterritt, Jr., Michael Greer, Robert Magness, Mark Ross and Robyn Straza with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, among other offenses. The charged crimes arise out of a series of securities fraud schemes, including an offering fraud targeted at investors and potential investors in an oil and gas company in Texas and the attempted manipulation of the publicly traded stock of a cannabis company. The defendants were arrested today. Sterritt, Greer and Straza will make their initial appearance in federal court in Dallas, Texas; Magness and Ross will make their initial appearance in Brooklyn. Continue reading “Article: Five Individuals Charged in Offering Fraud, Stock Manipulation and Money Laundering Schemes”

Article: German Attorney Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering

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German Attorney Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering

Eastern District of New York, 24 March 2021

Earlier today, at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn, Henning Schwarzkopf, a citizen of Germany and an attorney licensed to practice in Germany, pleaded guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Ramon E. Reyes, Jr., to money laundering by transferring funds that he believed to be the proceeds of a securities fraud scheme through the bank account of a Hong Kong shell company controlled by the defendant. Schwarzkopf was arrested on a criminal complaint in October 2020. When sentenced, Schwarzkopf faces up to 20 years in prison, as well as forfeiture and a fine of up to $250,000.

Mark J. Lesko, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the guilty plea. Continue reading “Article: German Attorney Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering”

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