The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently published a report addressing transnational organized crime and the convergence of cyber-fraud, underground banking and technological innovation in Southeast Asia. According to a UNODC press release, among its many findings, the report "outlines recent cases that demonstrate how underregulated online gambling platforms and increasingly high-risk and often unauthorized virtual asset service providers (VASPs) that have proliferated in recent years are being used by major organized crime groups to move, launder and integrate billions in criminal proceeds into the financial system without accountability." The report provides multiple examples of the role VASPs play in organized money laundering schemes involving cryptocurrencies.
For more information, please refer to the following links:
- UNODC: Transnational Organized Crime and the Convergence of Cyber-Enabled Fraud, Underground Banking and Technological Innovation in Southeast Asia: A Shifting Threat Landscape
- Billion-dollar cyberfraud industry expands in Southeast Asia as criminals adopt new technologies
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