Category: Opinion

Regulatory Watch News

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  Czechia: Ten suspects plead guilty to fraud involving road cleaning and marketing services

  European Public Prosecutor's Office

  June 12, 2026

    (Luxembourg, 12 June 2026) – Ten suspects have pleaded guilty to public procurement fraud, in an investigation into suspected corruption in the award of public contracts for road cleaning and marketing services, led by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Ostrava (Czechia). The case concerns procurement fraud in connection with small-scale tenders organised in the period from 2020 till 2023 by two public entities in the Moravian-Silesian Region: the Road Administration of the Moravian-Silesian Region and the Moravian Energy Centre. The tenders, which were partly financed by EU funds, related to road cleaning and marketing services. The tendering procedures are understood to have been manipulated to favour pre-selected bidders, who paid bribes in order to secure the contracts.

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  SFO to secure a further £96,000 from “green energy” fraudster

  Serious Fraud Office

  June 12, 2026

  Today, the SFO secured a £96,000 confiscation order against Steven John Murphy, 50, after uncovering additional assets related to his role in a boiler-room fraud. The funds will go straight back to the public purse. Murphy was one of seven men who defrauded thousands of UK investors out of £8.2 million through an east-London registered but Spain-based sham biofuel company called Worldwide Bio Refineries (WBR). SFO investigators recently uncovered that Murphy held equity in a UK property that had been purchased using the proceeds of crime, and acted quickly to recover £96k.

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  AFP assists Europol disruption of $542 million money laundering operation

  Australia Federal Police

  June 12, 2026

  The AFP has assisted a Europol-led investigation to disrupt an offshore money launderer that washed $542 million for cybercriminals, including a ransomware group that extorted an Australian business. AFP contributions began in November, 2025, when investigators uncovered activity by two foreign administrators who allegedly ran a money laundering service for cybercriminals from Georgia. The money laundering service, known as AudiA6, was allegedly given illegally obtained finances (often cryptocurrency) by cybercriminals, ‘cleaned’ the money, and converted it into traditional currencies. The launderers allegedly charged commissions of between three and 10 per cent.