In the “Weekly Round-Up” we summarise and give extra reading suggestions for some of the past weeks financial crime news headlines, powered by Acuminor’s crime universe ThreatView®.
There has been increased reporting on violent crime across Latin America during the past week. Three articles from the organisation InSight Crime are well worth digging into for further understanding.
“Novo cangaço”
Earlier this week in Brazil, we were given an insight into what has become known as “Novo cangaço” (new struggle), when a violent large scale bank robbery occurred in the city of Araçatuba. Civilians were used as shields, strapped on getaway cars, with no regard for their lives. The term “cangaço” refers to a period in the 1920s and 1930s when roaming bandits were active in parts of Brazil.
Insight Crime – The Descent into Madness of Brazils Bank Robberies
Express kidnapping
Another story from Brazil highlights how new payment solutions are being used in, so-called “express kidnappings”, where an instant money transfer mobile app is used to speed up the kidnapping process.
Insight Crime – Express Kidnappings in Brazil’s São Paulo Accelerate with Instant Pay App
Remittance payments
From Mexico, there are concerns how the movement of criminal proceeds may have adapted to border closures and lockdowns during Covid-19. As reported earlier, organised criminal groups have been stockpiling illicit proceeds in cash due to the lack of couriers to move cash between countries. Now Mexico is reporting a record level of remittance payments, a payment channel often misused by criminal groups and where remittance payments are flowing from the USA into Mexico.
Insight Crime – Record Remittances from US to Mexico Raise Money Laundering Concerns
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