Category: Fraud

Regulatory Watch News

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  Five arrested and more than £30m of cocaine recovered in at-sea smuggling bid

  National Crime Agency

  June 10, 2026

  Five men are in custody and more than £30m of cocaine has been recovered following a National Crime Agency investigation. NCA officers struck shortly after 1300 yesterday (Monday) arresting the suspects at Eastbourne Marina and seizing 425kg of the Class A drug which has a street value of £34m. It is alleged four of the men had returned to shore on the fishing vessel New Horizon after collecting the drugs which had been dropped in the English Channel by another vessel.

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  Italy: EPPO investigates €1 million fraud involving RRF funds for e-commerce projects

  European Public Prosecutor's Office

  June 10, 2026

  (Luxembourg, 10 June 2026) – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Bologna (Italy) is leading an investigation into a suspected €1 million fraud involving funding from the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), intended to support the digitalisation and internationalisation of Italian businesses through e-commerce platforms. The investigation, carried out by the Italian Financial Police (Guardia di Finanza) of Macerata, concerns an alleged fraud scheme designed to obtain funding under Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), financed by the RRF.

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  Encrypted chats expose Kosovar organised crime network behind EUR 80 million criminal empire

  Europol

  June 10, 2026

  Messages exchanged on the encrypted communication platform SKY ECC have exposed a Kosovar-based organised crime network in large-scale drug trafficking, the use of fraudulent IDs, illegal possession of weapons, and money laundering across Europe. The intelligence gathered during a three-year investigation culminated on 9 June in a coordinated action day in Kosovo*, where authorities arrested five key members of the criminal organisation. Some 150 officers were deployed on the ground, supported by a Europol expert.