Tag Archives: money laundering

Michael Pratt, one of FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives Captured in Spain

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Michael James Pratt, one of the FBI’s ten most wanted fugitives was arrested last week by Spanish authorities, said the agency. Pratt has been a fugitive since 2019 and was named to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List earlier this year.

Pratt is charged in a 19-count indictment with sex trafficking, production of child pornography, sex trafficking of a minor, and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments in connection with the operation of the GirlsDoPorn adult website.

Pratt was arrested by Spanish National Police on December 21, 2022, in Madrid, Spain, pursuant to an Interpol Red Notice. A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. Pratt is being held in Spain pending extradition.

“The capture of Michael Pratt is an example of how the FBI will pursue justice beyond U.S. borders—you can run but you can’t hide,” said Special Agent in Charge (SAC) Stacey Moy of the FBI San Diego Field Office. “Thank you to our determined FBI San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force and to our federal and international partners for their commitment to making sure that Michael Pratt is brought to justice.”

SAC Moy would like to thank the Spanish National Police, the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for their coordination in the arrest of Michael Pratt, and the public for their assistance in this investigation.

Pratt was the 529th person to be placed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, which was established in 1950. Additional information concerning Pratt and the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives can be found by visiting the FBI’s website at fbi.gov/topten.

The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt and all defendants in a criminal case are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

Any additional victims of the alleged crime are encouraged to call the FBI National Threat Operations Center at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324).

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chairs meeting on “Illegal Loan Apps”; Steps to prevent operations

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Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman chaired a meeting yesterday to discuss the various issues related to “Illegal Loan Apps” outside the regular banking channels.

The meeting was attended by the Finance Secretary, Ministry of Finance; Secretary, Economic Affairs; Secretary, Revenue, & Corporate Affairs (Addl. Charge); Secretary, Financial Services; Secretary, Electronics & Information technology; Deputy Governor, RBI; and Executive Director, RBI.

The Finance Minister expressed concern on increasing instances of Illegal Loan Apps offering loans/micro credits, especially to vulnerable & low-income group people at exorbitantly high interest rates and processing/hidden charges, and predatory recovery practices involving blackmailing, criminal intimidation etc. Smt. Sitharaman also noted the possibility of money laundering, tax evasions, breach/privacy of data, and misuse of unregulated payment aggregators, shell companies, defunct NBFCs etc. for perpetrating such actions.

After detailed deliberations on legal, procedural & technical aspects of the issue, it was decided in the meeting that:

  • RBI will prepare a “Whitelist” of all the legal Apps and MeitY will ensure that only these “Whitelist” Apps are hosted on App Stores.
  • RBI will monitor the ‘mule/rented’ accounts that may be used for money laundering and to review/cancel dormant NBFCs to avoid their misuse.
  • RBI will ensure that registration of payment aggregators be completed within a timeframe and no un-registered payment aggregator be allowed to function after that.
  • MCA will identify shell companies and de-register them to prevent their misuse.
  • Steps should be taken to increase cyber awareness for customers, bank employees, law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders.
  • All Ministries/Agencies to take all possible actions to prevent operations of such Illegal Loan Apps.

The Ministry of Finance will monitor the actionable points for compliance on a regular basis.