Windhoek, NAMIBIA. Electronic evidence is often thrown out of the courts by the judiciary due to lack of permissibility and attribution (the linking of a digital action to a person), yet on average an internet user leaves a footprint in at least 30 places on devices, networks and the internet” the workshop was told. Anecdotal evidence suggests that damage caused by cybercrime worldwide is getting to 6 trillion a year. Most companies are affected by cybercrime yearly, but they do not report to authorities for fear of reputational damage.
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Seven Chinese nationals appeared in a Zimbabwe court after they were arrested last month with rhino horn pieces worth nearly a million dollars.
They are facing charges of breaching the country’s wildlife laws.
Zeng Dengui, 35; Peicon Jang, 35; Chen Zhiangfu, 30; Qui Jinchang, 29; Yu Xian, 25; Yong Zhu, 25 and Liu Cheng, 23 were arrested two days before Christmas after police raided their home following a tip-off.
At least 18 people, including a former finance minister, have been charged for fraud involving $2bn in loans to state-owned companies in Mozambique, the Attorney General's Office (AGO) has said, in a scandal that has ensnared two major international banks.
"Mozambique AGO is indicting 18 defendants, (ranging) from public workers and other citizens, on charges of abuse of power, abuse of trust, swindling and money laundering," it said in a statement on Monday.
In a posh hotel room in Kuala Lumpur, a 35-year-old man wearing a dark button-down shirt smiled. He had two suitcases crammed with 55 live turtles, and he was hoping to make a sale.
He watched as his customer, a man wearing shorts and sneakers, carefully examined the reptiles crawling across the hotel rug.
Bakrudin Ali Ahamed Habeeb, had posted on Facebook some seven months earlier that he had reptiles to sell, triggering a flurry of text messages and price negotiations. Now, Habeeb just needed to prove that his animals were in good health so he could pass them off into the exotic pet trade.
It was May 2017, and he was anticipating a big payday.
When his visitor left the room, ostensibly to get a colleague, Habeeb didn’t even look up. But minutes later, agents from Malaysia’s department of wildlife and parks flooded his room. The would-be buyer, as it turned out, was an undercover agent with the Wildlife Justice... Read More..
Indian-origin woman Shamila Batohi appointed head of South Africa's prosecuting authority.
Pretoria, South Africa. Prominent Indian-origin lawyer Shamila Batohi has been appointed to head South Africa’s prosecuting authority, the first woman to head the agency facing criticism for its handling of the investigations against former president Jacob Zuma over corruption charges.
Batohi will start her new role as the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) in February 2019.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the appointment of Batohi, during a nationally-televised address at the government headquarters, the Union Buildings, on Tuesday.
During his maiden address, Ramaphosa gave the commitment that government would urgently attend to the leadership crisis at the NPA to ensure the institution is and able to perform its mandate without any outside interference.
To enhance asset recovery in West and Central Asia by sharing experiences on domestic and international legislation as well as policy and procedures, UNODC and the General Prosecutors Office of Kazakhstan hosted the launch meeting of the regional Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network West and Central Asia (ARIN-WCA) from 22 to 23 November in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Participants included law enforcement, prosecution authorities and Attorney Generals' Offices currently involved in asset tracing, freezing and seizure, as well as asset management and confiscation from Afghanistan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
14000 Government Officials caught doing business with the state.
An investigation by National Treasury has revealed that as many as 14,000 government officials are listed as directors of companies who have contracts with the state, Bloomberg reports, in direct contravention of government regulations.
Treasury also reportedly found the names of 12,000 dead people in its registry of companies, painting a grim picture of how government tenders are fraudulently rigged, to be handed to ‘preferred’ people.
According to Treasury’s procurement office, companies are set up with fake documents and the names of dead people, who then tender for contracts at high and inflated prices – making it seem as if the legitimate companies are offering the same services for much cheaper.
Lusaka, ZAMBIA. The Drug Enforcement Commission through its Anti-Money Laundering Investigations Unit in Lusaka has arrested and jointly charged three (03) Directors of Heritage Coin Resources Limited for money laundering offences involving over K28, 000,000.00 contrary to the laws of Zambia.
Madagascar. It's a victory for Nature, the radiated tortoises and the Malagasy judicial system! The three traffickers of tortoises arrested in April 2018 with 10,072 Radiated tortoises were tried in the Criminal Court in Tulear in October 25, 2018.
The verdict is in: 6 years of firm imprisonment for each of the three traffickers and Ariary 100 million of fine, as well as Ariary 30 million to cover damages and the cost the Ministry of the Environment, Ecology and Forests. It is the most severe penalty ever recorded in Madagascar against tortoise’s traffickers.
A Sun Online investigation reveals more than 300 of these villas have been built, paid for by the hundreds of children sent to beg and steal on the streets of Britain.
These children, some just toddlers, are ruthlessly exploited by Fagin-like gangs run by Roma gypsies. Through a miserable life of petty crime, each child can earn £100,000 in 12 months, as part of a £24million a year child smuggling ring, while their identities and fake child documents are used to swindle millions in benefits from the UK tax payer. In 2010, there was hope these children's ordeal was at an end when a major joint operation involving 300 officers from Scotland Yard, Romania and Europol saw 26 ring leaders arrested. Read More..
Investigations into Hong Kong’s largest ivory seizure in 30 years have failed to produce a single prosecution, meaning the syndicate behind the smuggling operation is still at large, the customs department has confirmed.
That failure, along with a long-standing low prosecution rate for wildlife smuggling, has sparked concerns from experts, who called on Hong Kong authorities to put more money into investigations and make the offence a more serious crime with stiffer penalties.