Category Rahn Financial Crime

It is a universal human truth that our businesses and reputations are as important to us as our children or animals are. And rightfully so. So where does one start? As always, with the information. More specifically, data quality. 

The facts and statistics collected for reference or analysis are what is referred to as data. Ongoing information that influences virtually all decisions made in your company’s lifecycle. 

In this article, we are going to explain to you why our products and services are so unconditional and powerful at the same time. Because it is driven by the most premium refined or distilled fuel/honey/whiskey/water you have ever seen. Driven by quality – being ultimate transparency. Pun intended. 

What is Data Quality? 

The measure of the condition of data in terms of accuracy, completeness and relevance. The quality thereof is regarded as; how well the data inform your daily operations when onboarding processes such as projects, staff and service providers within your company. 

What is Data-Integrity? 

Consistency in the maintenance and management of data. The things we do within our systems in order to allow data to provide us with illuminating answers whilst keeping the system learning at all times. Digitally. And very literally in today’s times. Critical in the design, implementation and usage of any system that stores, processes or retrieves said data.

Rahn – Bespoke Data Design in 4.0 Innovation Today

Banking, Insurance and other Financial Industries rely on bespoke data quality and design, to continue to make effective business decisions. our forte.  To ensure that our clients are extracting this key information at all times, we dial in the journey along with your software engineers to provide and build a system interacting both with cloud-based and traditional data repositories with full transparency. Reporting to you on everything you need to know. 

The Promise of a Data Quality Partnership 

Everything we do, from consulting to financial crime detection relies on the ability to analyse, interpret and extract insights from large volumes of data. Rahn consults and implements products on a process that starts with identifying core business needs very meticulously before assembling cloud-based and on-premise data into bespoke databases that are fed into the Cloud for processing and ultimately – comparison. Filtrating and distilling your information into data-of-quality to create a very efficient, source Control point. One that is constantly tested and fine-tuned to ever-evolving best practices and legislation in your industry. Effectively ordering all numerical and categorical data within the hierarchy it applies. 

RAHN Monitor – The Cloud Watchdog 

Data quality not only allows you to capitalise on opportunities – it also allows you to identify risks and threats, which can have catastrophic effects if not detected and dealt with. This is precisely why we have developed the Rahn Monitor, sanctions screening software platform.  Aimed specifically at financial service providers, it safeguards your business from anything suspicious that might be involved with schemes, frauds and syndicates found in Green, Financial and Human Crimes.

Turning Data Quality into Insights for Action

RAHN Consolidated Pty Ltd. is a proudly South African company that supplies recruitment and consulting services, and products that know how to convert raw information into quality data. Driving profitable action with reliable insight, whilst keeping you safe. 

From data scientists and business analytics experts to bespoke compliance software, RAHN offers organisations the expertise and tools to improve data quality and make better, more sustainable business decisions. 

Source the right people or products for your data-related projects.

Contact us today

Fear and panic: Someone has gained control over another person against their will and is now holding them hostage. Incidents of kidnappings for ransom continue to rise, and no sector of society is immune to this sudden threat.

The modus operandi of kidnappings for ransom is to gain an obscene amount of money, demanding immediate personal gain within a short timeframe. Plus, a release that is sadly NEVER guaranteed. That is people ransomed for Money. 

Differentiating Kidnappings from Human Trafficking

Kidnappings, while similar in their heinous nature, differ from human trafficking, which is a 150 Billion dollor industry in itself, as discussed in our recent financial crime article. The differential is that trafficking condemns victims into an ongoing commercial gain for the perpetrators. Forced into exploitation – money still being the common denominator. It’s just the term of the abduction (and the criminal’s ongoing remuneration) that differs. 

Kidnappings for Ransom are Financial Crimes Too 

Even ongoing criminal remunerations mean a record of transactions. So logically the worst happens in these highly charged emotional environments when large amounts of cash (physical or otherwise) need to be transferred or hidden. Sending the extremely volatile process over the tipping point of whichever side. 

Follow the Money 

Victims ransomed for money and any other form of trafficking generally leaves a trace. As does practically everything else we do in these digital times. And laundering is nowhere as easy as it was to do in earlier times because of this fact. The difference between then and now is paramount. Due to modern innovation, a new solution to help combat all illegal activity steps into the equation that complicates this very unpredictable outcome, for the better. A real hero – the Information Technology we have in today’s Digital times that was never there before. 

“Back then” too, everything was timestamped, databased, verified, checked and matched. But within isolated enterprises and walls, within slow timeframes and with only a few industries (and authorities) that had the privilege of sharing information as freely as we can today. While not relevant to the act of kidnappings for ransom, one can’t help but think about the famous American con artist Frank Abagnale, portrayed by Leonardo di Caprio in the 2002 movie, “Catch me if you Can”. Would the fast-talking conman have sidestepped the stringent regulatory frameworks now established to stop financial crime in its tracks?

CLOUDY With a Chance of Justice

Proverbially, the heavens we look to, lie right above the answer that stares back at us. Cloud Technology is the cog that drives mankind’s very compressed efforts to identify anyone associated with any form of wrongdoing whatsoever. Simply put, a quick background check was never as “quick” or nearly as thorough as it is today.

Compliance with FICA, for example, enables everyone to know exactly with whom they are talking. Instantly. Being able to request and gather all requirements you need to know when onboarding staff, clients or third-party suppliers. Knowing when to call someone back or when to call the police. 

Kidnappings for Ransom – Downfall, Risk and Association

Day by day, step by step and with more tools to keep things both transparent and accountable such as Cloud than ever before – humanity deals with criminals. And because of the technology used to combat them, no entity can afford to be caught in the crosshairs. Unfortunately regardless of if the association was a mistake or not. Because mercilessly, any financial association with those involved in kidnappings for ransom could very well lead to your downfall too. 

This is precisely why the Rahn Financial Crime compliance platform was developed and launched – to protect you, and your brand, from such acts of financial criminality. Our integrated sanctions screening engine is no match for those whom you really don’t want to do business with.

RAHN Financial Crime – Who Are You Working With?

RAHN Consolidated Pty Ltd. is a proudly South African company, committed to equipping financial professionals with real-time resources to analyse and monitor data quality and identify sanctioned entities. We can also source you top data professionals to assist you in navigating your financial IT landscape. 

Contact us today to explore how we can empower your enterprise with a financial attack strategy, or provide specialised services and personnel to your project and delivery teams.

In the murky world of financial crime, human trafficking, people smuggling and modern slavery surely stand out as the most callous and despicable acts perpetrated by organised crime syndicates. From the mass drownings that occur across the Mediterranean and English channel on an almost daily basis to the many child trafficking rings exposed across the world, the depravity of human trafficking never ceases to shock and amaze us.

This article looks at the sobering state of human trafficking in Africa while outlining the case for how financial crime and anti-money laundering experts act as a crucial intermediary in stopping human trafficking ‘in its tracks’.

A Financial Crime worsened by the COVID-19 Pandemic

Human trafficking remains a terrifying issue that does not escape colour, class or creed, and has unfortunately been further exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, as Governments and expert agencies focus on the economic and vaccination response. As the criminal syndicates who fuel this illicit trade increasingly adopt the dark web to conduct their activities, financial crime and compliance officers now play a critical role, alongside law enforcement, in identifying suspicious transactions and flagging individuals who may be complicit in human trafficking. 

The Extent of Human Trafficking in Africa

On the same day that the Ghislaine Maxwell sex-trafficking trial in connection with Jeffrey Epstein, is set to begin in New York, African statistics paint a grim picture of its proliferation across the continent. According to the Traffik Analysis Hub in the UK, and the African Institute for Security Studies, it is estimated that each and every year, an additional 3.5 million African citizens are being trafficked, while close to nine million Africans are currently being enslaved. Almost every African state is identified as either a source, transit, or destination country for victims, making this a significant issue for all nations to address.

The Role of the Public and Private Sector in Fighting Back

The global crime syndicates involved in human trafficking, operate through a veiled cloak of online secrecy that is almost impossible to intercept. However, the one area of opportunity to disrupt and dismantle these syndicates is through the monitoring of the financial transactions of suspected individuals. Compliance and financial crime professionals can assist in identifying, flagging and reporting suspicious activities through the following methods;

• Identify red flags and report suspect financial activities before they are processed and cleared. 
• Financial companies to empower regulatory and compliance teams with the relevant resources to take reporting action on each individual suspicious activity
• Enhanced Sanctions screenings process while onboarding new customers. 
• Leverage the latest technologies and localised platforms to help identify risks and raise red flags

RAHN Financial Crime – Turning the Tide against Human Trafficking

The transaction monitoring capabilities of the Rahn Financial Crime Platform enables organisations to identify specific types of transactions which can be associated with Human Trafficking. This is done by monitoring transactions to identify suspicious activity known to resemble transactions that are concluded by traffickers. An example of such would be transactions where large deposits are immediately withdrawn, close to international borders. In this case, the location of the branch where the transaction was executed, the size of the withdrawal (including aggregation) and the timing of the transaction will all be considered to identify potentially suspicious activity.

RAHN Consolidated Pty Ltd. is a proudly South African company, committed to equipping financial professionals with real-time resources to take the fight against human trafficking rings and other organised crime syndicates. Contact us today to explore how we can empower your business with a financial attack strategy to help put an end to human trafficking.