As scammers and terrorists increasingly turn to crypto, a Canadian intelligence office is raising alarms about risks posed by an emerging industry offering discreet means to convert cryptocurrency to large sums of physical cash and vice versa.

A substantial portion of these services across Canada are being “heavily exploited for illicit purposes” and are “knowingly facilitating money laundering, sanctions evasion” and a variety of “transnational organized crime activities,” according to a Canadian intelligence memo reviewed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

The memo’s assessment shows top financial intelligence officials echoing a concern that some crypto experts have voiced with growing urgency over the past year: A worldwide industry of services converting cryptocurrency into large sums of physical cash — often with few questions asked and conducted with deep anonymity — has opened a gaping hole in the global bulwark against dirty money.

the Strategic Intelligence, Research and Analytics Unit, the intelligence-gathering office within FINTRAC, the country’s agency overseeing efforts to combat money laundering and terror financing.

Garry Clement, who formerly ran the Canadian national police’s proceeds of crime program, told ICIJ that he’s not surprised by the government assessment.

Crypto-to-cash operators “service really professional money launderers,” Clement said. Their money, he added, “comes from the drug trade, it comes from human smuggling, it comes from massive amounts of fraud and it comes from a lot of cyber crime.”

The memo notes that recent media reporting has highlighted the rise of such services in Canada. Last November, ICIJ and 37 other news organizations released the Coin Laundry, a global investigation that examined illicit finance in cryptocurrency around the world, including Canada’s thriving crypto-to-cash businesses. These services allow holders of cryptocurrency to cash out huge sums without touching the mainstream banking system. In doing so, these operations sidestep banking systems’ traditional  safeguards on dirty money tied to organized crime, human trafficking or foreign sabotage operations.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/coin-laundry/crypto-giant-circle-rebuffed-efforts-to-help-scam-victims-police-say/

CRYPTOCURRENCY Crypto giant Circle rebuffed efforts to help scam victims, police say Jul 08, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/coin-laundry/crypto-cash-desk-currency-exchange-money-laundering/

FINANCIAL SECRECY From Dubai to Toronto, inside the crypto-to-cash storefronts fueling money laundering’s new frontier Nov 17, 2025

https://www.icij.org/investigations/coin-laundry/canada-revokes-dozens-of-crypto-firms-registrations/

IMPACT Canada revokes dozens of crypto firms’ registrations Mar 24, 2026

Recommended reading CRYPTOCURRENCY Crypto giant Circle rebuffed efforts to help scam victims, police say Jul 08, 2026 FINANCIAL SECRECY From Dubai to Toronto, inside the crypto-to-cash storefronts fueling money laundering’s new frontier Nov 17, 2025 IMPACT Canada revokes dozens of crypto firms’ registrations Mar 24, 2026

Swedbank has agreed to pay a $50 million fine to New York’s state financial regulator to settle a money laundering case tied to the Panama Papers.

The Swedish group reached the settlement with the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS), which first launched the investigation in 2019.

The probe was into the bank’s anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing controls, and its disclosures to regulators between 2007 and 2019, according to a statement by Swedbank.

The DFS had accused Swedbank of withholding information and misleading investigators during the probe into its ties with the Panamanian law firm, Mossack Fonseca.

The Panama Papers, a 2016 cross-border journalistic expose led by ICIJ and Suddeutsche Zeitung, was based on a huge trove of leaked Mossack Fonseca documents. Among those documents was proof that customers of Swedbank’s Estonia subsidiary used Mossack Fonseca as a registered agent.

https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/former-co-owner-of-panama-papers-law-firm-convicted-of-aiding-and-abetting-tax-evasion/

IMPACT Former co-owner of Panama Papers law firm convicted of aiding and abetting tax evasion Apr 24, 2026

https://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/chilean-authorities-expect-to-recoup-more-than-1-5b-after-icij-investigations-government-data-reveals/

IMPACT Chilean authorities expect to recoup more than $1.5B after ICIJ investigations, government data reveals Oct 11, 2024

https://www.icij.org/investigations/panama-papers/ten-years-after-the-panama-papers-enablers-and-tax-cheats-are-still-being-brought-to-justice/

IMPACT Ten years after the Panama Papers, enablers and tax cheats are still being brought to justice Apr 02, 2026

Recommended reading IMPACT Former co-owner of Panama Papers law firm convicted of aiding and abetting tax evasion Apr 24, 2026 IMPACT Chilean authorities expect to recoup more than $1.5B after ICIJ investigations, government data reveals Oct 11, 2024 IMPACT Ten years after the Panama Papers, enablers and tax cheats are still being brought to justice Apr 02, 2026