Western Union Fined $586 million for Colluding With Organized Crime

The popular money transfer service Western Union has been fined $586 million for allegedly colluding with organized criminal elements in an effort to circumvent money laundering laws.

In a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission last Thursday, authorities describe insufficient or poorly enforced policies that resulted in the funneling of hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds from illegal gambling, fraud and drug and human trafficking.

The findings cited an egregious case in which illegal immigrants from China sent money back to the people who smuggled them across the border.

Western Union has also be utilized in notorious international lottery scams, one of which was recently profiled on ’60 Minutes’ originating from the Caribbean island nation of Jamaica.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com