Knowledge hub for financial crime data for the benefit of business, government and law enforcement sectors.
The McGrathNicol Financial Crime Exchange (FCX) is a knowledge hub for financial crime data for the benefit of business, government and law enforcement sectors. It aims to reduce the risks and impact of financial crime in modern business by leveraging and applying past experience to contemporary business practice.
Financial crime cuts across all industry sectors and talks to the heart of business, culture, profitability, trust and confidence. McGrathNicol FCX aims to assist businesses in their understanding, awareness and identification of risks which undermine the successful operation of business. FCX also aims to reduce the risks and impact of financial crime in modern business by leveraging and applying past experience to contemporary business practice.
Australian policymakers demand answers from Lex Greensill
1 September 2021
Lex Greensill from Greensill Capital has been sent a list of questions from a parliamentary committee seeking more information on supply chain finance schemes. Committee members want to know more about what products he marketed to the Australian government and whether any Australian entities were involved in his “future receivables” financing programs.
Backlash as new iPhone update will cause devices to ‘spy’ on owners
31 August 2021
Apple is launching a new surveillance system on more than one billion active iPhones, iPads and Macs. Under the new design, your phone will now perform these searches on Apple’s behalf before your photos have even reached their iCloud servers, and … if enough ‘forbidden content’ is discovered, law-enforcement will be notified.
ASIC new enforcement approach more targeted and proportionate
31 August 2021
Last week, ASIC published its corporate plan which said it would continue as an active litigator against misconduct, but that litigation would be reserved for cases involving the most substantial harm to market integrity, investors and consumers. Hall and Wilcox lawyers said this new approach will allow for more balance in responding to technical or inadvertent contraventions, where the entity concerned had promptly remediated...
Victorian woman fleeced $10,000 by 'harrowing' phone scam
31 August 2021
A Victorian woman has been fleeced of $10,000 following an elaborate mobile phone scam. The retired university lecturer was tricked into believing she was part of a $2 million sting, being threatened with a fake warrant and ordered to drive to her local bank to withdraw cash and go to the post office.
Adelaide Brighton Cement accounts manager found guilty of multi-million-dollar deception
30 August 2021
A former Adelaide Brighton Cement manager has been found guilty of deceiving the company out of millions of dollars to benefit one of its customers. The Manager hid customer Concrete Supply's debts from her own employer, increased credit limits and created several large manual entries benefiting the customer.
Pump and dump ‘manipulation’ plagues cryptocurrency markets
30 August 2021
Free brokerage, lockdown boredom, and social trading had increased the success of pump-and-dump schemes cryptocurrency markets. A pump-and-dump scam, typically involves inside groups of manipulators, taking positions in an altcoin or digital token, prior to a pump signal to buy the asset, in a coordinated manner for social media users. The dump involves a pre-planned crash colloquially known as a “rugging” or rug pull.
Most common scam calls and how to prevent them
27 August 2021
Thanks to COVID, lockdowns and working from home, increased virtual presence has created fertile ground for online fraudsters and identity thieves. There have been 214 million scam calls blocked since rules requiring telcos to detect, trace and block the nuisance calls were introduced in December last year.
Pyramid scheme-style 'investment app' scamming most vulnerable during COVID pandemic
26 August 2021
Investment apps are the modern version of pyramid schemes to scam people. The first people to sign-up make money, so they encourage others to join. They are often run by overseas groups making recovery of the money difficult.
Moriah College’s former financial controller jailed after stealing $7.4 million
25 August 2021
The financial controller of a private Sydney school has been jailed for stealing more than $7.4 million over a period of 15 years. The fraud involved payments to himself and also diversion of GST refunds that were due to the school. All of the stolen money was spent feeding a poker machine addiction.
Woman jailed for Centrelink, Medicare scam
25 August 2021
Tammy Theresa Power, a Queensland woman has admitted scamming the government to obtain more than $50,000 in social security and Medicare payments while on parole for similar fraud. Power made changes to the bank details of 68 people who were registered with Centrelink, redirecting their social security payments into accounts she controlled.
McGrathNicol’s Financial Crime Exchange (FCX) is currently collaborating with the University of New South Wales in a two year project to research occupational fraud in Australian business. Find out more about it here.
