Crypto-currencies and the Growth of Financial Crime

Time and time again, we mention how technology is rapidly taking over; it has shaken up many industries and where there are countless benefits, there are also drawbacks. The financial industry has been victim to this, with money laundering now taking place in a variety of jurisdictions, as well as crypto-currencies bringing to surface encryption issues. Phillip Gibson speaks with us this month on the matter. He states: “Certainly the practice of criminal defence law is changing rapidly with the shrinking world – due to technology –  and the ability of individuals to conduct business across jurisdictions and anonymously.” Below, he discusses the issue in more depth.

How have you seen international crime develop over the years? What has impacted this change?

Traditionally most crime was committed within a geographic boundary, so crimes were very jurisdiction specific. With the advent of e-commerce and the emergence of crypto-currency, many crimes are now committed across multiple jurisdictions and proceeds of crime can be moved around the world outside traditional banking. Sophisticated encryption technology has also made detection of criminal activity much more difficult.

Do you think the convictions of such crimes are appropriate or do you think there needs to be harsher sentences to prevent such crimes?

Perhaps a more interesting question is often which jurisdiction criminal conduct should be prosecuted in when you have conduct covering multi-jurisdictions with different criminal justice systems and different penalties. In fact, it is common now for an individual to be charged in more than one jurisdiction for the same conduct. Expanding the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court to include international fraud, would be one solution to this issue.
Out of the variety of crimes you deal with in cases, which is the most common and why?

In New South Wales and Australia generally crime rates for traditional crimes such as Murder, Sexual Assaults, and Drug offences have all been reducing over the last 10 years, but they still make up a significant amount of the criminal defence work we do. However, we now see an increase in work such as extradition, international money laundering, cyber-crime including fraud, identity theft and extortion.
From this, what types of cases are the most complicated and how do you overcome such complications?

Definitely the most complicated work is that which involves multiple jurisdictions whether that means extradition or gathering evidence from witnesses outside Australia. Often these cases involve liaising with law enforcement agencies from different countries.

Phillip Gibson
Partner
Nyman Gibson Miralis
Criminal Defence Lawyers
Level 9, 299 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000
PO BOX 21147, World Square NSW 2002
DX 11543 SYDNEY DOWNTOWN
p +61 2 9264 8884
ngm.com.au

Phillip is one of Australia’s leading criminal defence lawyers. Having over 30 years of experience in all areas of criminal law his practice now focuses solely on serious, complex, and international crime. Phillip has advised on cases involving China, U.S.A., United Kingdom, Sweden, Czechoslovakia, South Korea, British Virgin Islands, Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand. These cases often involve assets forfeiture and multiple jurisdictions. This work includes the following:

• International money laundering

• New South Wales Crime Commission (NSWCC)

• Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC)

• Independent Commission Against Corruption

• Royal Commissions

• Transnational crime

• Cyber crime

• Extradition law

• Mutual Assistance in Criminal matters

• National Security law

• Proceeds of Crime law

We are an international award winning criminal defence law firm based in Sydney, Australia’s global city.

Established for over 50 years we are market leaders in all aspects of general, complex and international criminal law and are widely recognised for our involvement in some of Australia’s most significant criminal cases.

In the field of domestic and local criminal law our reputation has been built on the principles of delivering the highest quality legal service in every type of criminal case for over half a century, including leading cases in the High Court of Australia and the Court of Criminal Appeal.