Last year registered a tenfold increase of alleged money laundering cases tied to cryptocurrencies in Japan: more than 7,000 cases were reported to the local authorities, comparing to the 669 cases registered in the last nine months of 2017 — since April 2017, when new rules made it compulsory for crypto exchanges to report suspicious transactions.
The news is being shared by The Japan Times. According to the English-language daily some were the red flags reporting those cases, such as user accounts held under distinct names and birth dates, however with the same photography — or logins recognized as coming from other countries, nonetheless registered in Japan.
And curiously the surge in crypto-related money laundering cases co-occurred with an exponential increase in all money laundering reported cases in the country during the same period: from 17,422 reported cases in 2017 to 417,465 cases in 2018. And here we are talking about situations involving banks — the great majority — and credit card companies.
In the light of the current information the National Police Agency of the country is reportedly planning to prepare experts in both data analysis and pilot artificial intelligence technology — in order to be able to detect patterns related to suspected money laundering and other illicit transactions, namely related with cryptocurrencies.
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