Billions from ex-Soviet states passed through Danske Bank in 2013

Nearly US$30 billion of Russian and ex-Soviet money passed through accounts of the troubled Estonian branch of Danske Bank, Financial Times reported. A report commissioned by the bank and seen by the Financial Times says that the 30 billion flowed through the bank’s accounts in just one year. In July Berlinske reported that some US$8.3 billion were laundered through the Danske Bank Estonia operation. This would constitute one of Europe’s largest ever known cases of money laundering. The report raises the question whether the bank’s leadership knew about the dealings of its Estonian branch. A whistleblower had sent an e-mail to the management, reporting about what was going in the Estonian offices and Estonian regulators were also conducting an investigation. This all prompted the bank, although years later, to hire a consultant and launch its own investigation. The report by Promontory Financial found that the 30 billion were passed through accounts of non-residents in 2013, when 80,000 transactions were recorded. The scandal apparently lasted from 2007 until 2015. “We are in the process of finalising reports, but as we have already communicated, it is clear that the issues related to the portfolio were bigger than we have previously anticipated,” Ole Andersen, the chairman of Danske Bank told the Financial Times. He said US$ 8.3 billion out of the 30 billion were suspicious. Denmarks Financial Supervisory Authority stated in a joint statement with the Estonian Financial Supervisory Authority that a criminal procedure is decided, and carried out by police and public prosecutors, with regard to money laundering and terrorist financing.

https://www.occrp.org/en/27-ccwatch/cc-watch-briefs/8546-billions-of-soviet-money-passed-through-danske-bank-in-2013

US Sentenced Seven for International Child Exploitation

Seven men were sentenced for participating in an international child pronography production conspiracy The US Justice Department, announced. The defendants and other co-conspirators outside the United States, between July 2014 and April 2015, designed a website to help the group target and exploit girls. It was password-protected, and only vetted individuals could join the group. They worked together to identify social media profiles of girls, some as young as 10, and collaborated on strategies to get them to engage in sexually explicit activity in front of a live web camera. They posed as underaged boys and girls as part of this effort. The victims didn’t know they were actually communicating with adult men who were recording them. Member of the group shared videos by uploading them to a file-storage site and placing a link to those files on a section of their website that was for members only. To date, 91 victims from 28 states and Canada have been identified.

Six of the co-conspirators each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to produce child pornography and one count of conspiracy to receive and distribute child pornography. They were sentenced for 20 to 40 years in prison. Brandon Gressette, 33, cook from Summerville, pleaded guilty to the same count of conspiracy to produce child pornography, as well as two additional counts of production of child pornography with two victims, one under 12. He got 40 years. Another co-conspirator, Jonathan Soto, 27, of Branchburg, NJ, was already prosecuted in the District of New Jersey, and he also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce child pornography. On March 31, 2017, Soto was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for his role in the scheme.

https://www.occrp.org/en/27-ccwatch/cc-watch-briefs/8540-us-sentenced-seven-for-international-child-exploitation