International

Benin Ex-Finance Minister Gets 20 Years in Prison for Fraud

Komi Koutche, a former finance minister in the West African nation of Benin, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for money laundering and embezzlement of state funds. Koutche, who served in the government of opposition leader Thomas Boni Yayi, must also pay a fine of 100 million CFA francs ($165,000) for the disappearance of

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Fraudsters exploiting Covid-19 fears have scammed £1.6m

More than 500 coronavirus-related scams and over 2,000 phishing attempts by criminals seeking to exploit fears over the pandemic have been reported to UK investigators, figures reveal. One of the latest scams being assessed by officials at the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) involves criminals asking for donations to help the NHS fight Covid-19. Since

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What coronavirus means for online fraud, forced sex, drug smuggling, and wildlife trafficking Vanda Felbab-Brown

What coronavirus means for online fraud, forced sex, drug smuggling, and wildlife trafficking Vanda Felbab-Brown  Possibly emerging as a result of wildlife trafficking and the consumption of wild animal meat, COVID-19 is influencing crime and illicit economies around the world. Some of the immediate effects are likely to be ephemeral; others will take longer to

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SIM Swap Fraud: How safe is your mobile number as a unique identifier for financial transactions?

Kingsley Unah, MBA, FCA, CISA The phone number, Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number (MSISDN) and Mobile Directory Number (MDN) as it is known in GSM and CDMA respectively, have evolved from a mere identifier of a subscriber in a telephony communication to a unique identifier of a person undertaking a financial transaction. Banks require the

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Set them free! The judge who liberates Nigerians forgotten in jail

Ishaq Usman Bello is shaking the conscience of the courts – and nearly 4,000 wrongly detained prisoners are grateful for it   Prisoners behind bars in the prison of Jos, Nigeria. Photograph: Friedrich Stark/Alamy In a crowded prison courtyard in Suleja, Nigeria, a judge flipped through a battered folder detailing the case against a young

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