The Real Harm Behind Financial Crime - ANZ, Dec 2025

Financial crime causes real harm to real people. This month, we examine real cases from November 2025 to highlight the human cost of financial crime and remind compliance professionals why their work matters.

Following the FIU/ACAMS conference, discussions revealed that many people working in financial crime teams don't fully appreciate the extent and impact of the problem they're helping to solve. Understanding the real-world harm changed attendees' views from seeing this as a compliance exercise to work with genuine social benefits.

In this episode:

• Drug trafficking operations – $220m drug shipments intercepted at Auckland and Melbourne airports demonstrate the scale of the problem. Large amounts of money need laundering, and detection work by compliance teams helps identify these activities and reduce the harm drugs cause to communities.
• Fraud and scams – From victims losing $250,000 to fake cryptocurrency trading services to 1,600 arrests at a scam hub near the Thai border in Myanmar. Each victim is someone's customer, and the industry needs to get better at preventing fraud.
• Modern slavery – People brought into the country, treated as property, and paid next to nothing for working long hours. Whilst financial amounts may be low, the impact on victims is devastating.
• Environmental crime – From over-fishing that jeopardises long-term sustainability to operations affecting legal fishing and individual livelihoods. These crimes often have lower amounts involved but still deserve attention in detection strategies.

These cases show why adapting your AML programme to detect evolving threats isn't just about compliance, it's about protecting communities. Each detection matters. Small-scale activity at your institution might be the key to unlocking larger organised operations.

Hosted by: Jing Zhang, Business Development Manager and Colin Dixon, CAMS-certified AML Solutions Specialist at ThirdEye

Colin has been with ThirdEye since 2012, bringing extensive experience helping clients strengthen their financial crime prevention programmes.

Read the full blog post: https://jadethirdeye.com/view/real-harm-behind-financial-crime/

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About ThirdEye

We partner with mid-sized banks, building societies, lenders, and credit unions across Australia, New Zealand and the UK to fight financial crime. Our flexible transaction monitoring, customer screening, and case management solutions adapt to your risk landscape, backed by local support teams who understand your compliance environment.

Learn more: https://www.jadethirdeye.com/

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