Malaysia's 1MDB criminal case against Goldman Sachs delayed to September

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia’s criminal case against U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs involving $6.5 billion 1MDB bonds will be postponed to September, a court ruled on Monday, after defense lawyers asked for more time to receive instructions from their clients abroad. Malaysian prosecutors had previously issued summonses to three Goldman Sachs units in the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singapore, requiring them to respond to criminal charges filed against them over bond issues that the bank had arranged for state fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

The U.S. Department of Justice estimates $4.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB between 2009 and 2014, including some of the funds that Goldman Sachs helped raise. Goldman Sachs has consistently denied wrongdoing. On Monday, a lawyer for the bank said Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC, based in Hong Kong, had only received its summons in the past week, while another summons issued to the bank’s Singapore unit was incomplete, with just three out of four charges served. “Under such circumstances, we ask for another date… so that we will have enough time to take instructions from our clients,” lawyer Hisyam Teh told the court. The court then fixed Sept 30 for case management.

Last December, Malaysian prosecutors had filed charges against the three Goldman Sachs units for misleading investors by making untrue statements and omitting key facts in relation to bond issues that the bank had arranged for 1MDB. The bank says certain members of the former Malaysian government and 1MDB lied to it about how proceeds from the bond sales would be used. Malaysia has said it was seeking up to $7.5 billion in reparations from Goldman over its dealings with 1MDB, set up in 2009 by then prime minister Najib Razak. Najib, who lost a general election last year, is facing 42 criminal charges related to losses at 1MDB and other state entities. He has pleaded not guilty.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-malaysia-politics-1mdb-goldman/malaysias-1mdb-criminal-case-against-goldman-sachs-delayed-to-september-idUSKCN1TP0AX?il=0

Iranian Hackers Wage Cyber Campaign Amid Tensions With US

WASHINGTON—Iran has increased its offensive cyberattacks against the U.S. government and critical infrastructure as tensions have grown between the two nations, cybersecurity firms say. In recent weeks, hackers believed to be working for the Iranian government have targeted U.S. government agencies, as well as sectors of the economy, including oil and gas, sending waves of spear-phishing emails, according to representatives of cybersecurity companies CrowdStrike and FireEye, which regularly track such activity. It was not known if any of the hackers managed to gain access to the targeted networks with the emails, which typically mimic legitimate emails but contain malicious software. The cyber offensive is the latest chapter in the U.S. and Iran’s ongoing cyber operations targeting the other.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement released Saturday, June 22, that its agency tasked with infrastructure security has been aware of a recent rise in malicious cyber activities directed at U.S. government agencies by Iranian regime actors and proxies. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Christopher C. Krebs said the agency has been working with the intelligence community and cybersecurity partners to monitor Iranian cyber activity and ensure the U.S. and its allies are safe. “What might start as an account compromise, where you think you might just lose data, can quickly become a situation where you’ve lost your whole network,” Krebs said.

The National Security Agency would not address discuss Iranian cyber actions specifically, but said in a statement to The Associated Press on Friday that “there have been serious issues with malicious Iranian cyber actions in the past.” “In these times of heightened tensions, it is appropriate for everyone to be alert to signs of Iranian aggression in cyberspace and ensure appropriate defenses are in place,” the NSA said. In 2016, the U.S. indicted Iranian hackers for a series of punishing cyberattacks on U.S. banks and a small dam outside of New York City.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/iranian-hackers-wage-cyber-campaign-amid-tensions-with-us_2974409.html

US Justice Department & IRS Are in Hot Pursuit of Bitcoin Tax Evaders

By CCN Markets: The bitcoin price rocketed past $10,000 for the first time since 2018, and crypto fans are celebrating. But they’re not the only ones noticing the budding cryptocurrency bull market. The U.S. Department of Justice is ramping up criminal prosecutions of bitcoin tax evaders. In this effort, the DOJ is joining a mass crackdown by the IRS to launch enforcement actions against crypto tax crimes.'''

Bitcoiners In Crosshairs of Both the DOJ and IRS In other words, bitcoin investors are now in the cross hairs of not one — but two — mammoth government agencies that each want a share of crypto-related capital gains. DOJ Tax Czar: ‘No Free Pass’ for Crypto Investors Richard Zuckerman is the principal deputy assistant attorney general with the DOJ’s Tax Division. He says said his team is hunting down bitcoin tax evaders as a warning to the general public that crypto-related tax crimes won’t go unnoticed or unpunished. Zuckerman issued the warning June 21 at the New York University Tax Controversy Forum. “It’s important for deterrence for the public to know that the IRS and the Department of Justice focus in all of the economic strata. The perception that if you’re in one particular economic strata, you get a free pass [is wrong].” The DOJ’s Tax Division is already in the midst of criminally prosecuting several cryptocurrency cases, and warned that others are coming. Zuckerman says the Justice Department and the Internal Revenue Service are working hand-in-hand to bring bitcoin tax evaders to justice.

IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig reaffirmed the statements of the Justice Department’s Richard Zuckerman. Rettig says the IRS is prioritizing criminal enforcement of cryptocurrency crimes. To this end, the agency is hiring new staffers to expand its enforcement efforts.

IRS Agent Fired Warning Shots Last Week These new declarations by the DOJ and the IRS confirm CCN’s recent report. Last week, IRS tax investigator Gary Alford predicted that the agency would ratchet up criminal prosecutions of bitcoin users who don’t pay taxes. Alford noted that it’s easier now for a prosecutor to persuade a jury to convict a bitcoin tax evader because the public is now more familiar with crypto. He says it would have been harder to prosecute such a case before because the public had not heard of bitcoin until recently. “We’re usually behind the curve. But in this case, we are ahead of the curve. We didn’t know [before] if we were at the point where we can bring it for criminal prosecution. We are at that point now.” Gary Alford rose to fame in 2013 for bringing down the Silk Road drug trafficking site, which resulted in the arrest of Ross Ulbricht. So he’s no one to be trifled with.

Which Crypto Transactions Are Taxed? As CCN reported, not every crypto transaction is taxed. However, you are required to report cryptocurrency as income if you did the following: Sold bitcoin (or any other crypto)., Converted bitcoin to fiat currency., Used cryptocurrencies to pay for goods or services., Received free crypto through a fork or an airdrop.

Your transactions are not taxed if you: Bought bitcoin but never sold it. Gave crypto as a gift to a friend or family member, and the gift was less than $15,000. Purchased crypto with a Self-Directed IRA or Solo 401(k).

https://www.ccn.com/crypto/justice-department-irs-criminally-prosecute-bitcoin-tax-evaders/2019/06/23/

US Authorities Seek Extradition of Alleged Crypto Scammer

The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has unsealed a fraud complaint against Swedish citizen Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson and associated firm Eastern Metal Securities (EMS), according to a press release on June 19. According to the DoJ Karlsson and EMS are charged with committing securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Specifically, Karlsson allegedly instructed investors to pay for his products using virtual currencies, such as the cryptocurrency bitcoin (BTC).

According to the complaint, the EMS website was registered to a made-up person, and offered shares of “Pre Funded Reversed Pension Plan” of which investors could allegedly purchase shares at $98 apiece. Karlsson allegedly promised a payout of 1.15kg in gold (over $45,000 as of January 2, 2019) per securities share. However, an investigation by the IRS Criminal Investigation unit reportedly concluded that Karlsson did not demonstrably have the capital to back the promised payouts. However, he did appear to have invested the money received in Thailand-based real estate.

Karlsson has purportedly been running two websites, EMS and HCI25, to conduct scam investment deals with no payout. He allegedly succeeded in obtaining over $11 million from at least 3,575 investors via these scams, which have been in operation since 2006. According to the report, Karlsson was arrested in Thailand on June 18, and the United States is requesting extradition to try the purported scammer in the Northern District of California. Earlier this week, the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CTFC) filed a complaint against Control Finance Ltd, a now-defunct company from the United Kingdom that allegedly acquired almost $150 million through bitcoin-related fraud.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/us-authorities-seek-extradition-of-alleged-crypto-scammer