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🔥 NEW PODCAST DROP: Episode 6 of FinCrime Unfiltered with Sarah Beth Felix

Construction shells, dirty NGOs, and consent order lessons.

U.S. Sanctions Funnull for $200M Romance Baiting Scams Tied to Crypto Fraud.  The Treasury accused the Taguig-headquartered company of enabling thousands of websites involved in virtual currency investment scams that caused Americans to lose billions of dollars annually. Hacker News

Inside Boko Haram’s Wallet: Digital Pathways to Terrorist Financing in Nigeria GNET

How Russian fortunes stranded by US sanctions rocked Liechtenstein Reuters

5 missing musicians found dead near U.S. border in Mexico; cartel members arrested CBS

Mexico and the United States decimate Los Chapitos El Pais

Russia’s Vast Nuclear Modernization Exposed in ‘Unprecedented’ Security Breach Moscow Times

ConnectWise Hit by Cyberattack; Nation-State Actor Suspected Hacker News

Trump agency uncovers ‘one of the largest’ food stamp fraud, bribery schemes Fox

BitMEX thwarts Lazarus attack, discovers vast security lapses Block

Texas oil operators indicted in drug cartel smuggling scheme USA Today

US Plans Wider China Tech Sanctions With Subsidiary Crackdown Bloomberg

The U.S. Plan to Hobble China Tech Isn’t Working WSJ

Ex-Goldman Sachs banker gets 2 years in prison for plot to fleece billions from Malaysia’s 1MDB AP

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

US and allies accuse North Korea and Russia of violating UN sanctions AP

What Could New US Sanctions Against Russia Look Like? RFE

Senate to work on Russia sanctions bill next week Hill

American Adversaries Meet To ‘Coordinate Their Positions’ on Iran’s Nuclear Program Free Beacon

Two Foreign Nationals Indicted for Plot to Smuggle U.S. Military Technology to China DOJ

American Drone Company Claims Major Breakthrough Over Chinese Competitors Newsweek

💣 TERROR

Mexico City attorney pleads guilty to laundering money for Sinaloa Cartel through San Diego shell companies ABC

Mexican Authorities Arrest Colombian Mercenaries Building Explosives for Cartels Breitbart

She defended drug lord El Chapo – now, she’s running for office BBC

Two Utah men charged with supporting Mexican cartel designated as terrorist group Fox

Police bust major drug trafficking ring in Portugal, seizing cash and weapons Euronews

Police Suspect Brazilian Singer Worked With Cocaine Traffickers OCCRP

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

Former “We Buy Ugly Houses” Franchise Owner to Plead Guilty in Fraud Scheme That Cost Investors $40 Million ProPublica

Feds Seek 12.5-Year Prison Sentence for Ex-Illinois Speaker Michael Madigan PBS

Cypriot MPs Assail Officials For Failure to Collect on €14M Tax Bill From Roman Abramovich Firm OCCRP

California opens inquiry into Paramount and Trump Semafor

US court reinstates former USC coach’s college admissions scandal conviction Reuters

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

Feds target Chinese couple accused in $9 million crypto ‘pig butchering” scam USA Today

SEC drops lawsuit against crypto giant Binance Cointelegraph

Is every memecoin just a scam? Experts on whether Andrew Tate and Trump are fleecing their followers Guardian

Amazon Fire Sticks enable “billions of dollars” worth of streaming piracy Ars

White House investigating how Trump’s chief of staff’s phone was hacked TechCrunch

🚚 TRAFFICKING 

Mexico City attorney pleads guilty to laundering money for Sinaloa Cartel through San Diego shell companies ABC

Mexican Authorities Arrest Colombian Mercenaries Building Explosives for Cartels Breitbart

She defended drug lord El Chapo – now, she’s running for office BBC

Two Utah men charged with supporting Mexican cartel designated as terrorist group Fox

Police bust major drug trafficking ring in Portugal, seizing cash and weapons Euronews

Police Suspect Brazilian Singer Worked With Cocaine Traffickers OCCRP

 


ILLICIT EDGE PODCASTS

🎙 FinCrime Unfiltered with Sarah Beth Felix
🎙 Designated with Yaya Jata Fanusie️
🎙 Coercive Capital with Elaine Dezenski

 


VIDEOS

 


INFLUENCERS

Kim Zetter / Brian Krebs / Nicole Perlroth /
Josh Rogin / Ellen Nakashima / Matt Levitt /
Clarissa Ward / Gary Kasparov / Joseph Cox / Mark Dubowitz
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya / Bill Browder / Jen Easterly /
Zack Kopplin / Laura Shin / Dmitri Alperovitch / Tom Keatinge
Catherine Belton / Nazanin Boniadi / Chris Krebs /
Kevin Hall / Farnaz Fassihi / Kevin Collier / Patrick Howell O’Neill /
Michael McFaul / Jonathan Schanzer / Catalin Cimpanu /
Liza Lin / Enes Kanter FREEDOM / Bianna Golodryga

 


RESOURCES

Financial Action Task Force /
Egmont Group /
Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project /
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists /
Money Laundering Watch/

C4ADS /
Combating Terrorism Center /
Royal United Services Institute /

 


IN OTHER NEWS

The Sanctions Era Is Quietly Ending. The West Isn’t Ready. Sanctions, originally considered a serious diplomatic tool, are increasingly used like political bandages, quickly slapped on, soon ignored, and easily peeled off. Newsweek

Top U.S. High School Traded Curriculum for Donations in Secretive Business Deals With CCP-Tied Groups Free Beacon

Iranian man pleads guilty in Robbinhood ransomware scheme CyberScoop

North Korea Infiltrates U.S. Remote Jobs With the Help of Everyday Americans WSJ

📘 Featured Report: All Roads Lead to China – North Korean hackers, fentanyl, cartel money laundering, and global organized crime TRM Labs

Crypto kidnappings leave investors, executives on edge Semafor

Unsealed Court Documents Reveal How Drug Traffickers Targeted U.S. Banks OCCRP

Miami man pleads guilty to stealing millions from Venezuelans for wedding at French chateau Miami Herald

Turkish Fintech Firm Papara Seized in Illegal Gambling Probe Reuters

Russian billionaire Valery Kogan has sold his Versailles-style NYC condo — to another wealthy Russian NYP

Italy’s mafia abandoning rivalries to join forces Reuters

Quantum Computing Could Break Bitcoin-Like Encryption Far Easier Than Initially Thought CoinDesk

The Prince, His Money Manager and the Corruption Scandal Rocking Monaco.  He safeguarded the family’s fortune — and their secrets. Now, it’s all unraveling. WSJ

Cambodia’s $19 Billion Financial Scam Empire Fueled by Crypto Decrypt

🎙️IE Originals: Pig Butchering Breakdown with Yaya Fanusie & Erin West Designated

German court sends VW execs to prison over Dieselgate scandal Politico

Ex-Harvard morgue manager pleads guilty to trafficking organs, brains, other remains USA Today

Is a Good Iran Deal Possible? Foreign Affairs

Secret Chinese links behind anti-Israel groups that fostered Elias Rodriguez’s hate NYP

Florida court orders convicted “supercop” and wife to pay $2.4 billion to Mexico after taking cartel bribes CBS

Luxembourg bank to pay €25 million fine in 1MDB money laundering case Luxembourg Times

Texas doctor who ‘falsely diagnosed patients’ in $118 million scheme sentenced to 10 years in prison NBC

How a Pentagon contractor built a global empire — and a massive tax evasion scheme ICIJ

Italian firm targeted in massive VAT fraud case OCCRP

As Trumps Monetize Presidency, Profits Outstrip Protests NYT

Goldman Sachs demands long prison stint for disgraced ex-partner Timothy Leissner over bribery scandal NYP

How Two CEOs Mixed Romance and Business, Leading to Scandal.  Kohl’s CEO Ashley Buchanan and Chandra Holt lived together in Texas but kept their relationship quiet as their interests became intertwined at retail chains. WSJ

Does The EU Still Have The Sanctions Cards Needed To Hurt Russia? RFE

UK and Europe target Russia with major sanctions after Putin-Trump call Guardian

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

EU Finds China Responsible For 80 Percent Of Russia Sanctions Avoidance RFERL

Putin Has Retooled Russia’s Economy to Focus Only on War WSJ

Senate GOP demands new sanctions against Russia Axios

ICE investigation leads to indictment of 8 individuals with ties to China in transnational elder fraud scheme DHS

This Chinese woman became the ‘two-faced female tyrant’ in a wheelchair, orchestrating one of the largest money laundering schemes in history Binance

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

Trump Pardons Reality Stars Todd and Julie Chrisley Following Tax Evasion and Bank Fraud Convictions Variety

U.S. grants Chevron narrow authorization to keep assets in Venezuela Reuters

South African Firms Suspect UAE Companies May Have Obtained Military Intellectual Property OCCRP

Albanian ex-President Ilir Meta charged with corruption and money laundering AP

Another person arrested in connection to Feeding Our Future fraud investigation CBS

The impact of anti-money laundering measures on remittance costs Nature

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

Trump’s media company to take $2.5B investment to buy bitcoin Guardian

Shutdown Russian Exchange Garantex is Still Laundering Crypto via Tornado Cash BeInCrypto

Adidas warns cyberattack stole customer data Independent

IMF Says ‘Efforts Will Continue’ to Ensure El Salvador Doesn’t Accumulate More BTC CoinDesk

🚚 TRAFFICKING 

Cocaine Cartel with Global Links Hit in EU Crackdown OCCRP

So, what really happened at the cartel training site dubbed ‘Mexican Auschwitz’? Reuters

Italy’s mafia joining forces, turning to Chinese ‘shadow banks’ Reuters

 


COMPLIANCE TOOLBOX

How a top Chinese AI model overcame US sanctions MIT

Taskforce on Public-Private Partnership in Fighting Financial Crime in Ukraine RUSI

The Digital Asset Ecosystem in El Salvador: Challenges and Risks to Countercheck Financial Global Financial Integrity

Money Laundering from Environmental Crime: Typologies and Trends in Countries in the Amazon Region Fact Coalition

INTERPOL Financial Fraud assessment: A global threat boosted by technology Interpol

Sanctions by the Numbers: Comparing the Trump and Biden Administrations’ Sanctions and Export Controls on China CNAS

The threats posed by the global shadow fleet—and how to stop it Atlantic Council

Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

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Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)

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State Department

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Federal Reserve

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Commerce Department

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Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

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Federal Trade Commission

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Commodity Futures Trading Commission

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HM Treasury

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Interpol

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