Reports say that INTERPOL has arrested about 3,500 people across Nigeria, Ghana, and other countries as they seized $300 million in addition. On Tuesday, December 19, 2023, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) declared the end of a transcontinental police operation against online financial crime, resulting in nearly 3,500 arrests and the confiscation of assets valued at $300 million from 34 different countries. Seven categories of cyber-enabled scams were the focus of the six-month Operation HAECHI IV (July–December 2023): voice phishing, romantic scams, online sextortion, investment fraud, money laundering related to illicit online gambling, business email compromise fraud, and e-commerce fraud. Interpol, source: Google According to INTERPOL, the operation was carried out across 34 countries, which include Argentina, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Ghana, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Korea, Romania, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam. According to INTERPOL, the investigators in HAECHI IV collaborated to identify online fraud and used its Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) stop-payment mechanism, which enables nations to work together to block criminal proceeds, to freeze related bank and virtual asset service provider (VASP) accounts. It further stated that during a two-year manhunt by Korea’s National Police Agency, a prominent online gambling offender was apprehended in Manila as a result of collaboration between Filipino and Korean law enforcement.
Everton to face another nine-point deduction if Burnley, Leicester, Leeds are successful with £300m compensation claim
Everton could face further nine-point deduction if Burnley, Leicester, Leeds are successful with their £300m compensation claim. Everton’s prospective buyers 777Partners had committed to providing £20 million per month to support the club’s running costs during the Premier League’s assessment of their takeover bid. However, they may not be willing to cover a compensation cost reaching tens of millions of pounds. The deal between Farhad Moshiri and 777 in September includes clauses reducing the sale price significantly if Everton is instructed to pay compensation or faces relegation. Everton could face further nine-point deduction – Getty image Their current financial constraints mean Everton could struggle to settle the huge compensation bill, and could result to an automatic nine-point reduction, a scenario said to have introduced by the Premier League in 2004. According to Mail Sports, the compensation claim initiated by Burnley, Leicester and Leeds, could amount to £100 million each, based on the loss of Premier League income during seasons when Everton overspent. If Everton fails to address these challenges, it could become the third club in Premier League history to suffer points deductions. They will follow Middlesbrough, who suffered such fate in 1997 and Portsmouth in 2010. Both teams were also subsequently relegated.