Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

SecurityWeekSecurityWeek

Compliance

MoneyGram Forfeits $100M For Aiding and Abetting Wire Fraud

MoneyGram International Inc., a company that provides money transfer services, has reached a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice and will pay $100 million for aiding and abetting wire fraud and failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.

MoneyGram International Inc., a company that provides money transfer services, has reached a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice and will pay $100 million for aiding and abetting wire fraud and failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.

According to court documents, MoneyGram was involved in mass marketing and consumer fraud phishing schemes, perpetrated by corrupt MoneyGram agents and others. Starting in 2004 and continuing until 2009, the scams – which generally targeted the elderly and other vulnerable groups – included posing as victims’ relatives in urgent need of money and falsely promising victims large cash prizes, various high-ticket items for sale over the Internet at deeply discounted prices or employment opportunities as “secret shoppers.”

In each case, the perpetrators required the victims to send them funds through MoneyGram’s money transfer system. Despite thousands of complaints by customers who were victims of fraud, MoneyGram failed to terminate agents that it knew were involved in scams.

“MoneyGram’s broken corporate culture led the company to privilege profits over everything else,” said Assistant Attorney General Breuer.

“MoneyGram knowingly turned a blind eye to scam artists and money launderers who used the company to perpetrate fraudulent schemes targeting the elderly and other vulnerable victims,” Breuer continued. “In addition to forfeiting $100 million, which will be used to compensate victims, MoneyGram must for the next five years retain a corporate monitor who will report regularly to the Justice Department.”

In addition to the fine, MoneyGram has agreed to enhanced compliance obligations and structural changes including: the creation of an independent compliance and ethics committee; adoption of a worldwide anti-fraud and anti-money laundering standard; adoption of a bonus system which rates all executives on success in meeting compliance obligations and adoption of enhanced due diligence for agents deemed to be high risk or operating in a high-risk area.

Written By

Click to comment

Trending

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest threats, trends, and technology, along with insightful columns from industry experts.

Discover strategies for vendor selection, integration to minimize redundancies, and maximizing ROI from your cybersecurity investments. Gain actionable insights to ensure your stack is ready for tomorrow’s challenges.

Register

Dive into critical topics such as incident response, threat intelligence, and attack surface management. Learn how to align cyber resilience plans with business objectives to reduce potential impacts and secure your organization in an ever-evolving threat landscape.

Register

People on the Move

The US arm of networking giant TP-Link has appointed Adam Robertson as Director of Information and Security.

Cyber exposure management firm Armis has promoted Alex Mosher to President.

Software giant Atlassian has named David Cross as its new CISO.

More People On The Move

Expert Insights

Daily Briefing Newsletter

Subscribe to the SecurityWeek Email Briefing to stay informed on the latest cybersecurity news, threats, and expert insights. Unsubscribe at any time.