Anonymous shell companies rising

Criminals have learned, through trial and error, that anonymous shell companies can pass scrutiny. Authorities and entities don’t question them, the fraudsters blend in and they don’t appear to be risky. They represent the next big sale, the new low-cost supplier or the helpful business agent. And organizations are eager to work with them. It’s time to start reversing this trend.

In 2014, Mt. Gox, the top bitcoin exchange at the time, collapsed because scores of customers found they couldn’t withdraw funds. Why? Because hackers had pilfered 650,000 bitcoins, then worth 4.5 billion pounds. Now, according to a BBC article by Geoff White, investigators say almost half of the stolen coins ended up at the rival exchange BTC-e, supposedly run by a British company called Always Efficient LLP.

According to the BBC, Duncan Hames, director of policy for Transparency International (TI), said Always Efficient is likely a shell company.