Category: MEA

Regulatory Watch News

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  Over 5,800 arrests, USD 293 million intercepted in global fraud bust

  Interpol

  July 10, 2026

  LYON, France – A global anti-fraud operation involving 97 countries and territories has led to the arrest of 5,811 individuals and the interception of USD 293 million in illicit assets. Operation First Light 2026 (15 Jan 2026 – 30 April 2026), coordinated by INTERPOL, focused on combatting social engineering scams and associated money laundering activities. Social engineering is a broad term that refers to techniques that exploit a person’s trust to obtain money or confidential information. This type of fraud can include business email compromise, sextortion, as well as romance, impersonation or investment scams.te

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  Fine for ABN AMRO Bank N.V. for inadequate customer due diligence for high-risk customers

  DNB

  July 10, 2026

  De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) imposed an administrative fine of €8.5 million on ABN AMRO Bank N.V. (ABN AMRO) on 6 July 2026 due to serious shortcomings in its anti-money laundering controls in the period from September 2023 through September 2024. DNB identified structural shortcomings in the performance of ongoing monitoring for a portion of its high-risk customers. In its fining decision, DNB illustrated these shortcomings by referring to five customer files.

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  Investigation Huracán: Searches, seizures and arrests in Germany, Poland and the Netherlands in large-scale VAT fraud

  European Public Prosecutor's Office

  July 10, 2026

  (Luxembourg, 10 July 2026) – The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) in Cologne (Germany) has uncovered additional information within the large-scale VAT fraud investigation Huracán, leading to two arrests in Germany and  the Netherlands, and searches and seizures in Germany, Poland and the Netherlands yesterday. The suspects are believed to have bought cars from the main suspects, who were convicted in October 2024, and sold them to car dealers located within and outside Germany, mainly in the Netherlands and Portugal, as so-called ‘margin cars’. This provided the car dealers with the possibility of paying VAT only on the margin they made (the difference between the price paid for the vehicle and the price for which it is sold), and not on the net value of the car. It is understood that this fraudulent behaviour resulted in VAT evasion in the country of the final seller and led to VAT damage of over €3.2 million.