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Odaily News: The UK government has announced that it will invest £500 million over the next three years in a new anti-money laundering and asset recovery strategy, and will recruit 500 additional personnel across police forces, the National Crime Agency (NCA), and the Crown Prosecution Service to track down and seize criminal funds.The funding comes from an economic crime levy imposed on regulated businesses. The UK Home Office stated that the NCA estimates more than £100 billion is laundered through the UK or UK corporate structures each year, with the development of fintech, cryptocurrency, and AI increasing related risks.The additional personnel will support "Operation Destabilise," which targets Russian-speaking networks that convert street cash into cryptocurrency. To date, the operation has arrested 119 suspected money launderers and seized over £25 million in cash and crypto assets in less than a year. (Decrypt)
a fraud review commissioned by the UK government recommends that the Judicial College provide training for all judges and magistrates in England and Wales to address the rise in cases involving AI fraud and money laundering via cryptocurrency. The report argues that the Fraud Act 2006 is generally adequate for handling AI fraud, but the issue lies in the courts' lack of preparedness for adjudicating such cases. It recommends assessing whether the existing "Long and Complex Trials" course should be updated or replaced with specialized modules on fraud and related offenses, and considering mandatory training for judges who may preside over complex fraud cases. The report states that fraud could soon account for half of all crime in England and Wales, with an estimated 4.1 million cases occurring in the year to June 2025, affecting 1 in 14 adults and 1 in 4 businesses. The Financial Ombudsman Service estimates that over half of investment scams now involve crypto assets. The report also references the case of Qian Zhimin, who operated a Ponzi scheme in China, defrauding over 128,000 victims of approximately £5 billion and laundering the proceeds into Bitcoin. This case led to the largest confirmed Bitcoin seizure in UK history, involving over 61,000 BTC. Qian Zhimin was sentenced to 11 years and 8 months in prison at Southwark Crown Court in November.