Spanish Police Bust Bank-Card Fraud Ring

An international organization engaged in duplicating bank cards has been dismantled in an operation involving the arrest of 178 people in 14 countries, Spanish police said Tuesday. The ring, which made off with more than 20 million euros ($24.5 million), also committed other crimes including robbery, extortion, sexual trafficking and money laundering.

The investigation, directed by Spain’s National Court, was launched two years ago in the Mediterranean city of Valencia, where police detected several people forging bank cards to withdraw money from automatic teller machines or to make purchases.

Police discovered that the ring had subgroups based in 14 different countries, each led by an individual who alone had contact with the kingpins.

In Spain, 76 people have been arrested, 120,000 card numbers were made inoperative and 5,000 duplicated cards were seized, while police dismantled six workshops where cards were being copied.

In Romania, 23 searches resulted in 16 arrests, while in France the operation was carried out in three phases that led to 30 arrests and nine searches.

In Italy, two searches ended with seven people under arrest and 3,100 duplicated cards seized.

Another 16 people were taken into custody in Germany, including a man suspected of being one of the most important technicians for creating card-duplicating devices.

Three members of the gang were nabbed in a three-step operation in Ireland, while in the United States another eight people were arrested.

And thanks to information provided by the Spanish police, two suspects were arrested in Australia, another two in Sweden and Greece, three in Finland and four in Hungary.

Source: Latin American Herald Tribune

Two Foreign Nationals Sentenced for Roles in International Money Laundering Scheme Involving Online Sales

Two Bulgarian nationals have been sentenced in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia for their roles as money launderers for a transnational criminal group based in Eastern Europe, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division.

Ivaylo Vasilev Pletnyov, 39, of Svishtov, Bulgaria, was sentenced yesterday to four years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman for conspiracy to commit money laundering. Pletnyov was also sentenced to three years of supervised release following his prison term and was ordered to pay $306,502 in restitution. Pletnyov pleaded guilty on Jan. 15, 2009.

Nikolay Georgiev Minchev, 45, of Sofia, Bulgaria, was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Minchev was also sentenced to three years of supervised release following his prison term and was ordered to pay $270,444 in restitution. Minchev pleaded guilty on Sept. 21, 2008.

According to court documents, from approximately July 2005 through May 2006, Pletnyov and Minchev participated in a scheme to post advertisements on eBay and other web sites, fraudulently offering expensive vehicles and boats for sale that they did not possess. When the U.S. victims expressed interest in the merchandise, they were contacted directly by an e-mail from a purported seller. The victims were then instructed to wire transfer payments through "eBay Secure Traders"--an entity which has no actual affiliation to eBay but was used as a ruse to persuade the victims that they were sending money into a secure escrow account pending delivery and inspection of their purchases. Instead, the victims' funds were wired directly into bank accounts in Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Greece that were controlled by Pletnyov, Minchev and their co-conspirators. According to court documents, in less than one year, the criminal conspiracy netted more than $1.2 million from U.S. victims.

Pletnyov and Minchev were originally charged on Jan. 9, 2008, along with four additional defendants: Roman Teodor, Georgi Vasilev Pletnyov, Georgi Boychev Georgiev and Antoaneta Angelova Getova. The United States continues to work with foreign counterparts in Romania and Poland regarding the remaining defendants. An indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty at trial beyond a reasonable doubt.

This investigation was conducted by the FBI - Hungarian National Bureau of Investigation (HNBI) Organized Crime Task Force located in Budapest, Hungary (Budapest Task Force). The Budapest Task Force was established by the FBI in April 2000 in an effort to address the increasing threat of Eurasian organized crime groups to the United States. Its objective was to develop cooperation with law enforcement in Central/Eastern Europe, and to identify transnational cases with a nexus to the United States.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Lisa Page of the Criminal Division's Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. The Criminal Division's Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance on this case.

SOURCE: PRNewsWire

Satyam Wins Pegasystems Partner Innovation Award for AML Solution

October 30, 2007: 12:33 PM EST

HYDERABAD, India, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Satyam Computer Services Ltd. , a leading global consulting and IT services provider, announced today that it won the 2007 Pegasystems Partner Innovation Award in financial services. The announcement was made at PegaWORLD 2007, Pegasystems' annual conference, and one of the business process management (BPM) industry's flagship events.

Satyam won the esteemed award for its advanced Anti-Money Laundering (AML) solution, which enables financial institutions to intelligently track, manage and quickly resolve potentially fraudulent and criminal activity with greater speed and accuracy and to comply with stricter AML regulations. Satyam used Pegasystems' SmartBPM(R) Suite to create the new solution, which addresses a critical and underserved need in the market.

"Financial institutions now have an innovative way to fight fraud and financial crime, as well as stay in compliance with BSA/AML/KYCC statutes," said Anil Kumar, the Global Head of Satyam's Financial Services Business.

Integration among Satyam experts accelerated the solution's development and deployment.

"Satyam's business process management and banking experts leveraged Pegasystems' SmartBPM platform to rapidly deliver an advanced solution without additional and costly software development," said Joseph Lagioia, head of Satyam's Consulting and Enterprise Solutions Practice. "We are very proud and pleased to win this prestigious honor."

Satyam's AML solution optimizes a financial institution's existing transaction-monitoring systems-detecting suspicious activity such as the deposit of very large sums, multiple accounts for the same person, and suspicious names-while at the same time minimizing the number of false positives, which has been a nagging problem in the past. The solution also allows financial institutions to recognize suspicious transactions quickly, rather than waiting until the end of the day, which is the norm for institutions using case management systems.

"Satyam combines superior subject matter expertise in financial services with deep understanding of Pegasystems technology to deliver truly innovative business solutions in an accelerated fashion," said Douglas Kim, managing director of Global Alliances and Business Development for Pegasystems. "We're proud of our long-standing relationship with Satyam and are delighted to recognize them with this award."

About Satyam

Satyam , a leading global business and information technology services company, delivers consulting, systems integration, and outsourcing solutions to clients in 20 industries and 57 countries.

Satyam leverages deep industry and functional expertise, leading technology practices, and an advanced, global delivery model to help clients transform their highest-value business processes and improve their business performance. The company's 45,700* professionals excel in engineering and product development, supply chain management, client relationship management, business process quality, business intelligence, enterprise integration, and infrastructure management, among other key capabilities.

Satyam development and delivery centers in the US, Canada, Brazil, the UK, Hungary, Egypt, UAE, India, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Australia serve 599* clients, 173 of which are Fortune Global 500 and Fortune US 500 corporations. For more information, see http://www.satyam.com.

*As of Sept. 30, 2007

Safe Harbor

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of section 27A of Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The forward-looking statements contained herein are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in the forward- looking statements. Satyam undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements. For a discussion of the risks associated with our business, please see the discussions under the heading "Risk Factors" in our report on Form 6-K concerning the quarter ended June 30, 2006, furnished to the United States Securities Exchange Commission on July 28, 2006 and the other reports filed with the Securities Exchange Commission from time to time. These filings are available at http://www.sec.gov.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/DCTU00430102007-1.htm