UAE freezes assets owned by members of the Kinahan crime syndicate April 22, 2022 Assets owned by members of the Kinahan crime family – an Irish gang accused of smuggling drugs and weapons into Europe – have had their assets frozen by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE’s decision to sanction Kinahan gang – which has strong links to some of the world’s most famous professional boxers including [...]
Private detective admits hacking Wirecard’s critics April 22, 2022 An Israeli private detective has admitted coordinating efforts to hack journalists on behalf of disgraced payment processor Wirecard. Aviram Azari pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit hacking, and aggravated identity theft, for his role in acting as a middleman in the hacker-for-hire scheme. The charges relate to Azari’s role in working [...]
Lawyers value culture and friendships over cold, hard cash, new report says April 21, 2022 Lawyers place more value on culture and friendships with colleagues than they do on cold, hard cash, according to new data from Reuters. A survey of 900 lawyers found those who planned to stay with their firms were more likely to cite their colleagues, firm’s culture, and the quality of their work as their reasons [...]
Former BNP Paribas banker denies terrorising colleagues during $4m employment tribunal April 21, 2022 A former BNP Paribas banker has denied terrorising his colleagues, after filing a $4m (£3m) lawsuit against the financial firm. Former BNP Paribas exec Omar Alami is seeking $4m in compensation for unfair dismissal, after he was fired for humiliating his co-workers in 2019. The ex-head of equity derivatives sales denied “insulting” his colleagues, [...]
Stretched employees face unmanageable workloads due to staff shortages, new survey show April 21, 2022 Almost two-fifths (38 per cent) of workers have said they are struggling to deal with “unmanageable” workloads, as a result of staff shortages, according to a survey from Totaljobs. At the same time, almost half (46 per cent) would like to see their companies hire more workers to make their workloads more manageable, while another [...]
UK lifts cap on court days for second year in a row to cut Crown Court backlog April 21, 2022 The UK government has lifted the cap on the number of days Crown Courts are allowed to sit for the second year in a row, as it struggles in its efforts to cut the Crown Court backlog. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said there will be no limit on the number of days judges are [...]
UK watchdog fines Deloitte £2m over failures in audit of Mitie’s accounts April 21, 2022 The UK’s audit watchdog has fined Big Four accountancy firm Deloitte and audit partner John Charlton over a raft of failures in its audit of the accounts of outsourcing company Mitie. The UK’s Financial Reporting Council (FRC) fined Deloitte £2m and Charlton a furth £65,000 after discovering a number of “deficiencies” in the audit of [...]
Coca-Cola exec spared jail after accepting £1.5m in bribes April 20, 2022 A senior manager at soft drink manufacturer Coca-Cola has handed a 20 month suspended sentence after accepting bribes worth £1.5m. A judge at Southwark Crown Court handed 56-year-old Coca-Cola executive Noel Corry a 20-month suspended sentence and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work. The Coca-Cola exec’s conviction comes after Corry admitted [...]
Latham & Watkins asks to drop sanctioned VTB Bank in lawsuit over downed flight MH17 April 20, 2022 Los Angeles law firm Latham & Watkins has asked for permission to drop Russia’s state-owned VTB Bank as a client, in a lawsuit over claims the sanctioned bank funded the militia group that shot down Malaysia Airline Flight 17. In a filing to a New York court, Latham & Watkins asked for permission to withdraw [...]
Irwin Mitchell hands staff £900 bonuses to get through UK’s cost-of-living crunch April 20, 2022 UK law firm Irwin Mitchell is set give its staff a £900 bonus each, to deal with the UK’s cost-of-living crisis. Staff working at the firm are set to receive a one-off payment on top of their April salaries to cover the costs of higher food and fuel prices. The firm said the one-off payments [...]