Investigating the investigators, no profit in tragedy for identity thieves and more

Investigating the investigators

German prosecutors raided the country’s finance and justice ministries on Sept. 9, 2021, as part of an investigation into whether officials told the Financial Intelligence Unit to ignore alerts from banks about suspect transactions of millions of euros to Africa between 2018 and 2020.

The move was particularly significant because Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, who oversees the anti-money laundering agency, heads the SDP party that won the biggest share of votes in the country’s Sept. 26 election.

According to Reuters, the probe comes as the finance ministry is facing scrutiny for its failure to detect wrongdoing at financial services company Wirecard, which imploded last year in Germany’s biggest-ever corporate fraud. The Financial Action Task Force is reviewing Germany’s anti-money laundering efforts. (See “German finance ministry raided in money laundering probe,” by Hans Seidenstuecker and John O’Donnell, Reuters, Sept. 9, 2021.)

No profit in tragedy for identity thieves

As rescue crews searched in June 2021 for survivors of the Champlain Towers South condominium collapse in Surfside, Florida, four people allegedly collaborated to steal the identities of seven victims of the oceanfront disaster that left 98 people dead.