Unraveling the Mystery: Bitcoin's Meteoric Rise and the Cryptocurrency Problem

Read my new article on Substack on the complex landscape of bitcoin's surge and the unresolved mysteries of cryptocurrency - is it an asset, gambling or a scam?

Free access HERE

Stanley’s Musings - Fintech, Banking & Payments News #2

Thoughts on fintech, banking, payments, risk management, AI, going green, economics, business and much more…

The latest edition is now available - HERE 

The Scam of The Century!

Aside from losing over 1.13 million people, the United States is thought to have lost billions of dollars in pandemic relief fund fraud, according to the most recent Associated Press analysis, published this week. 

The analysis discovered that fraudsters took more than US$280 billion in relief cash, while another $123 billion was lost or misspent. 

“Combined, the loss represents 10 percent of the $4.2 trillion the U.S. government has so far disbursed in aid,” according to the report. 

According to the analysis, this was the worst heist in U.S. history, with criminals stealing billions of dollars in government money intended to stabilize an economy in free fall.

Crypto frenzy is rife with ‘hucksters, fraudsters, scam artists’

The current crypto frenzy is “reminiscent of what we had in the 1920s before the federal securities laws were put in place,” said U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler. He went on to add that “... Hucksters. Fraudsters. Scam artists. Ponzi schemes. The public is left in line at the bankruptcy court.”

“The crypto securities markets should not be allowed to undermine the well-earned trust the public has in the capital markets,” Gensler said. “The crypto markets should not be allowed to harm investors.”

The SEC this week brought separate actions against Binance and Coinbase, alleging they had unlawfully offered securities intermediation functions without registering them with the regulatory agency. The agency also alleged Coinbase commingled its exchange, broker-dealer and clearinghouse functions. The SEC also accused Binance of commingling investors’ assets.

Read the full article HERE.

The Billion Dollar Scam

From the BBC World Service. Investigative reporter Simona Weinglass leads a #BBCEye investigation into a criminal network, believed to have scammed more than a billion dollars from victims across the globe. The organisation sponsored a top-tier football club to promote its online trading platform, promising investors the chance of astonishing returns. But what lies behind the claims? The search – from a mansion in London, to a forest in Scandinavia and a call centre in Georgia – reveals a web of deceit. We hear from victims, undercover agents and police, in a bid to track down who’s in charge.

Donald Trump's Criminal Charges: A Legal Analysis

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records after a Manhattan grand jury voted to indict him for his alleged role in arranging a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Ashby Jones of the Wall Street Journal explains what you need to know about the charges.

Charles Ponzi - The Documentary

Charles Ponzi, was an Italian born con artist based out of the United States and Canada. Born and raised in Lugo Italy, he became internationally famous in the early 1920s as a con man for his money-making scheme. He promised clients a 50% profit within 45 days, or 100% profit within 90 days, by buying discounted postal reply coupons in Europe and redeeming them at face value in the United States as a form of financial arbitrage. 

In reality, Ponzi was paying earlier investors using the investments of later investors. While this type of fraudulent investment scheme was not originally invented by Ponzi, it became so identified with him that it now is referred to as a "Ponzi scheme". 

His scheme ran for just under a year before it collapsed, costing his "investors" $20 million. 

This history channel style documentary tells the full story of Charles Ponzi, from his childhood in Italy, through to the heights of his fame in Boston Massachusetts, through to his prison sentence, deportation, and his life after the scheme collapsed. In this film the Ponzi scheme is explained along with how it differs from a pyramid scheme. 

The film is written and narrated by Patrick Boyle, a fund manager and finance professor at King's College London.

FTX Disaster - 7 Unbelievable Bankruptcy Discoveries

Payment Methods Affected by Fraud

The FTC received 2.2 million fraud reports from consumers in 2020. What payment method is most affected by fraud?

Anatomy of a Scandal: inside the Wirecard investigation and why we fall for scams

Dan McCrum, the FT reporter whose investigation brought down Wirecard, in conversation with Matt Garrahan, FT news editor, on how to expose fraud - and why we keep missing it when it's hiding in plain sight.

On the Brink of Disaster or Start of a Golden Age?

From Bitcoin to DeFi (in 12 Short Years)...

Even if you’ve been living under a rock, you’re probably familiar with Bitcoin. Now, just as crypto disrupted the concept of value, decentralized finance is poised to disrupt finance itself. The populist movement promises huge returns for daring investors. But with DeFi’s promise of inclusion comes risk and uncertainty.

Is there something in this or are people that gullible or just plain stupid?

So the question is - is this the start of a new Golden Age or are we on the edge of Disaster? You be the judge.

DeFi: Crypto’s ‘Wild West’ of Finance - WSJ

Many are calling decentralized finance, or DeFi, the “Wild West of finance.” This fast-growing industry aims to provide automated banking services for cryptocurrencies to everyone, with no middle men. But DeFi is still in its early stages, which means there are risks. 

 

Podcast “American Kleptocracy”

Casey Michel with the Hudson Institute's Kleptocracy Initiative joins the podcast for a very lively discussion about his new book, American Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Created the World’s Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History. Casey discusses America’s role in the problem of global kleptocracy and shares some optimism about the path ahead.

To listen click HERE. 

Flags of Convenience - Bribe, Swindle or Steal Podcast

Tom Cardamone, President and CEO of Global Financial Integrity, joins the podcast to discuss the regulatory and enforcement challenges associated with flags of convenience. These range from trafficked labor to environmental violations and Tom highlights the inherent tension between substantial tax incentives on one hand and accountability on the other.

Listen to this podcast HERE.

The Most Commonly Experienced Types of Fraud

In this episode of Truth in Data, PaymentsJournal takes a look at the most commonly experienced types of fraud.

"Thieves of State": Sarah Chayes on Afghanistan

Afghanistan is in the new once again. With the lightning collapse of the Afghanistan Government and the return of the Taliban we offer you a replay of this podcast, originally published in June 2017 on Bribe, Swindle or Steal.

Sarah Chayes, author of Thieves of State, draws on her time in Afghanistan to explain the systemic corruption that contributed to the rapid crumbling of the state. 

Click HERE to access this Podcast.

Bribe, Swindle or Steal explores the world of financial crime—corruption, fraud, money laundering and sanctions—and what motivates people to break the law, how wrongdoers cover their tracks and what can be done to put a stop to the looting through interviews with experts in the field.

Phone Call Scams—And How to Protect Yourself

Scammers are sneakier than you'd think, but you need to protect your money and information. Here are 12 common scams - what they are and how to protect yourself.

Read the full article HERE.

Bernie Madoff and Jordan Belfort and their criminal financial schemes

Ike Sorkin, lawyer to both Bernie Madoff and Jordan Belfort (Wolf of Wall Street), discusses their criminal financial schemes and how regulatory safeguards failed. This is a repeat of the TRACE podcast episode that was originally published in June 2017.

With the recent death of Bernie Madoff, it is perhaps a timely opportunity to revisit the details. 

You can listen to this podcast
HERE.

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) – A good investment or a setup for fraud?

"The “best” part of the NFT market craze is that it appeals to non-technical people who don’t understand what they are buying but desperately want it to work." writes Tim Sloane, VP, Payments Innovation at Mercator Advisory Group.

Read full article HERE.

Moneyland, Kleptopia & On Corruption - How the corrupt operate

Oliver Bullough, Tom Burgis and Sarah Chayes, authors of three of the best books on global corruption, gather for a panel at the Annapolis Book Festival for a fascinating discussion about how the corrupt operate, often with impunity, and what can be done to slow the pace of looting.