Police have broken up a gang who were giving step-by-step bomb tutorials on how to blow up cash machines.
The operation was being run from the Netherlands and led to ATMs being targeted in Germany, culminating in a loss of $2.5 million.
Europe's crime agency Europol led a joint investigation with the Dutch and German authorities to catch the gang.
It led to the arrest of nine people and seven raids in areas around Utrecht, Amsterdam and The Hague.
The investigation was first launched 18 months ago after authorities in Osnabruck, Germany, identified suspicious orders of ATMs from a German company.
Special surveillance measures were put in place, which led the investigators to Utrecht in the Netherlands.
"A 29-year-old individual and his 24-year-old accomplice were running an illegal training centre for ATM attacks," Europol said.
"There, the pair was ordering different models of ATMs and recording tutorials on how to most effectively blow them up."
Police had a breakthrough when one of the gang members accidentally died during a test run.
"The criminals were producing step-by-step tutorials on how to blow up cash machines, and have been linked to at least 15 ATM attacks in Germany," Europol said.
"The cash machines were blown open using homemade explosive devices, posing a serious risk for residents and bystanders.
"During one of the test runs of an explosion, one of the suspects died, with another suspect getting seriously injured."
The investigation culminated in a series of police raids on Tuesday.
Those arrested in the Netherlands now face extradition proceedings to Germany.
Explosive attacks against ATMs are a growing concern, because they often put residents’ and bystanders’ lives in danger," Europol said.
"To prevent and tackle this type of crime, a close co-operation between law enforcement and the ATM industry is paramount.
"In this regard, Europol and the European Crime Prevention Network have worked on a number of recommendations to prevent physical attacks against ATMs."
Latest figures show losses in EU member countries from ATM attacks in 2017 was €30 million ($34.8m).
"Some countries continue to witness a significant number of physical attacks on ATMs, others have experienced a significant increase in the number of these incidents over the past two years," Europol said.
"Not only banks are affected, increasingly ATMs from independent providers are attacked because they are often in more vulnerable premises or locations.
"To set up an efficient set of preventive measures, the installation of a national authority that has the power to impose specific measures for high-risk ATMs, based on a thorough analysis of the situation, is best practice. This approach has been proven effective in France."
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Dhadak
Director: Shashank Khaitan
Starring: Janhvi Kapoor, Ishaan Khattar, Ashutosh Rana
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