The following are articles relevant to the Professional Investigator. Click on the title to make a comment or join the conversation.
Dual fraud trial: prosecution opens case against couple – 12 June 2019
Prosecutors have claimed that former Dual Australia employee Josie Gonzalez and her husband Alvaro Gonzalez submitted more than 400 fraudulent invoices to steal $17.4 million from an underwriting agency.
https://www.insurancenews.com.au/daily/dual-fraud-trial-prosecution-opens-case-against-couple
‘Elaborate’ Uni Fraud Scamming Aussie Businesses Of Millions – 12 June 2019
A new elaborate scam is using the identity of University Procurement Services and provides instructions to deliver the products (e.g laptops and defibrillators) to a warehouse. The business provides payment details to receive an electronic transfer and the goods are delivered; however, the money is never paid and is not able to be recovered. One business has already lost $500,000 alone.
State Budget focus on improved protections for Queensland seniors – 11 June 2019
QLD State Government has allocated a 3.5mil for delivering services to provide information, advice and support to seniors who at risk of, or are experiencing abuse in the form of physical and emotional abuse, financial abuse and financial scams.
https://www.miragenews.com/state-budget-focus-on-imporved-protections-for-queensland-seniors/
New service to protect Queensland seniors from financial abuse – 10 May 2019
Seniors in 10 Queensland communities will be able to access free independent financial advice to help protect them from financial abuse, thanks to $400,000 per annum in Palaszczuk Government funding.
https://www.miragenews.com/new-service-to-protect-queensland-seniors-from-financial-abuse/
Hemmes’ construction boss accused of fleecing $230,000 from Merivale – 10 May 2019
A construction project manager ‘Joel Cheeseman’ is accused of authorising false invoices of $230,000 to be be paid into his own account by Merivale who is worth $1billion and behind some of Syndney’s most well know bars and restaurants.
Australia’s public broadcaster weighs legal action after police raid – 10 June 2019
The ABC is considering legal action to demand the return of documents seized in a police raid showing Australian special forces had killed innocent men and children in Afghanistan. ABC chairwoman Ita Butrose will also meet with the Australian Prime Minister to discuss the issue.
Five Gold Coast men charged over two-year $330,000 ‘phone scam’ – 10 June 2019
Five Gold Coast men were the arrested with 11 accounts of fraud. They used a fake businesses used to take $330,000 from victims. They claimed their business made profits, and that they needed extra payments to release the funds.
City of Perth rolls out new facial recognition CCTV cameras, but is it surveillance by stealth? – 8 June 2019
Facial recognition technology will be trialled by the City of Perth for 12 months. If successful it could be expanded to all 480 CCTV cameras in the city’s network. Legal experts question whether it is an effective crime reduction tool.
Exchange Attacks Jeopardising the Future of Cryptocurrency? – 7 June 2019
Cryptocurrency security threats are global, with a new variety of cases every year with losses surpassing $1billion. It is believed that the issues lie in the systems that have been created around the technology, such as cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets, custodians, security companies and ICO platforms. Article describes relevant security solutions.
http://cryptotechnews.co/news/exchange-attacks-jeopardising-the-future-of-cryptocurrency/
Australia’s Attacks on the Free Press – 7 June 2019
Human right groups claim the recent raids and warnings to the media are attacks on freedom of the press and an attempt to intimidate both journalists and whistleblowers. Some discussion on how the Government is quietly defending the raids and Australia’s new espionage laws.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/06/australia-media-freedom-police-raids.html
The Fraud factories – 6 June 2019
Online crime is considered by fraudsters to be highly profitable, with minimal risk of arrest. Evidenced by the fact, than 60,000 scams have been reported to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Scamwatch website and more than $35 million in losses has been recorded already in 2019.
Australia targets cryptocurrencies in international tax crackdown – 6 June 2019
Australian tax officials are investigating a dozen transnational high-end tax avoidance schemes detected by the J5 (Joint Chiefs of Global tax Enforcement) The J5 consists of criminal intelligence communities from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States who are committed to collaboration in the fight against international and transnational tax crime and money laundering.
Former bank executive has tax evasion conviction quashed – 6 June 2019
The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal directed that a verdict of ‘acquittal’, be entered for charges of tax evasion and money laundering, for former finance professor and Macquarie bank executive Dr Tony Castagna and accountant Robert Agius. This was mainly because the events took place 10-20 years ago, the men had faced a lengthy trial and had already spent time in jail.
Cyber Criminals Are Making Bank Using Stolen Doctor Credentials On The Dark Net – 6 June 2019
A new report by a leading cybersecurity firm finds that 83% of healthcare organisations have been a target for criminal hackers due to the premium that black markets place on private health information—and in particular, the credentials of physicians that can be used to facilitate health insurance fraud.
ASIC spotlight on Sterling First firms over ‘serious allegations’ of misconduct before collapse – 5 June 2019
A WA property investment and management group (Ferrier Hodgson) that went under last month, was being investigated by the corporate regulator and facing “serious allegations” of misconduct. The allegations include misleading or deceptive conduct, unconscionable conduct and breaches of conduct.
Two former CBA employees charged with fraud – 5 June 2019
A former senior manager and a former manager at the CBA have been charged with fraud after allegedly misappropriating nearly half a million dollars from the bank’s internal accounts to personal accounts.
https://www.mybusiness.com.au/human-resources/5850-two-former-cba-employees-charged-with-fraud
Australian National University: 19 Years of Data Copied – 4 June 2019
Australian National University has detected a data breach that resulted in the copying of staff and student data stretching back 19 years. The compromised data includes names, addresses, birth dates, phone numbers, personal email addresses, emergency contact details, tax file numbers, payroll information, bank account details, passport details and student academic records. Australia took quick action after the breach, but in the process of remediation destroyed forensic evidence that may have provided more clues about the attackers.
https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/australian-national-university-19-years-data-copied-a-12563
The AFP raiding a journalist is about silencing whistleblowers, not the press – 4 June 2019
The Australian Federal Police turned up on the doorstep of the Newscorp journalist Annika Smethurst, in reference to her 2018 article that reported that the defence and home affairs ministries had discussed vast new powers to allow the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to spy on Australian citizens. News Corp Australia said that the raid was outrageous and seeks to punish a journalist for reporting a legitimate news story that was clearly in the public interest.
ATO whistleblower facing 161-year prison sentence says he ‘almost died from the stress’ – 3 June 2019
Former ATO worker Richard Boyle became an internal whistleblower in 2017. Mr Boyle alleged ATO staff were instructed to use an aggressive debt collection practice on taxpayers without consideration of their circumstances. He has broken his silence on the personal toll of speaking up and facing a prison sentence of 161 years if found guilty.
Time to regulate facial recognition technology – 3 June 2019
Concerns are raised about how facial recognition technology is used to police society in different parts of the world. The need for regulation is discussed as well as its breach of civil rights
Australia’s watchdog bans Gold Coast adviser for five years – 3 June 2019
According to ASIC’s investigation, Daniel John Renneberg failed to act in the best interests of clients, including advising them to set up self-managed super funds with “completely unsuitable” limited recourse loans. Consequently, Renneberg has been band from providing financial services for five years.
https://www.internationalinvestment.net/news/4002458/australia-watchdog-bans-gold-coast-adviser
Police charge two over separate corporate frauds – SCC Financial Crimes Squad – 3 June 2019
A man and a woman have been charged over alleged separate frauds against the same financial institution totalling more than $500,000. They allegedly fraudulently lodged reimbursements and transactions from the institution’s internal accounts to personal accounts and will appear in court.
Former newsreader Simone Semmens denies $1.8m tax fraud – 3 June 2019
Simone Semmens, a former television newsreader has denied she deliberately withheld more than $1.8 million in GST payments during a lucrative 10 year career of property development in Melbourne.
Bank manager hid employee’s fraud to hide his own $500,000 fraud, police say – 3 June 2019
A senior manager at the Commonwealth Bank, who stole almost half a million dollars (to fund a gambling habit), decided not to report a member of his team for fraudulently transferring an alleged $64,000 to her personal account, just in case his own fraud was discovered.
Almost 100,000 Australians’ private details exposed in attack on Westpac’s PayID – 3 June 2019
The private details of almost 100,000 Australian bank customers have been exposed in a cyber-attack on the real-time payments platform PayID. PayID allows the instant transfer of money between banks using either a mobile number or an email address. There is a risk that the stolen data could be used for fraud on a mass scale.
As privacy is lost a fingerprint at a time, a biometric rebel asserts our rights – 3 June 2019
Jeremy Lee, a sawmill worker Queensland, refused to have his fingerprints scanned for a new security system introduced by his employer to replace swipe cards. He was sacked and he lodged an unfair dismissal claim that was rejected. He then won his appeal before a full bench of commissioners. Great article that discusses about the vulnerability of biometric data.
Understanding biometrics: The technology shaping the future of security – 11 June 2019
From fingerprint scanning to voice recognition, biometics is set to shake up how we identify individuals and personal information. Perth is already trialling facial recognition surveillance technology at its airport as part of a new $1 million Smart Cities trial.
Tax fugitive tracked down and sentenced to 3 years and 3 months jail – 31 May 2019
A 56-year-old Brisbane businessman was sentenced in the Brisbane District Court to four years and six months jail for tax fraud, after being convicted of obtaining $596,736 for goods and services tax (GST) fraud and personal income tax return fraud.
https://www.miragenews.com/tax-fugitive-tracked-down-and-sentenced-to-3-years-and-3-months-jail/
Curtains for Vanda Gould’s $383m tax panto – 31 May 2019
Anglican church’s accountant, Vanda Gould, has been accused of over $383 million tax fraud. He has been accused of engaging in off shore operations, money laundering, tax fraud and possibly insider trading.
https://www.afr.com/rear-window/curtains-for-vanda-gould-s-383m-tax-panto-20190530-p51sue
Law will follow crypto sellers overseas, ASIC warns – 31 May 2019
Businesses offering initial coin offerings (ICOs) and crypto-assets need to ensure they’re complying with Australian consumer and corporation laws. ASIC has stated that simply selling such products offshore won’t stop the regulator from enforcing business’ domestic obligations.