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💥 China imposes retaliatory tariffs on $14B worth of U.S. goods.  On Friday, Trump announced a plan to introduce reciprocal tariffs in the coming days to reshape the U.S.’s global trade relationships. Firstpost

Trump Plans to Unveil 25% Steel, Aluminum Tariffs on Monday Bloomberg

Italian tycoons targeted by fake defense minister in suspected AI scam WWD 

Revoke fatwa against nuclear weapons, Iranian commanders tell Ayatollah Telegraph

Elon Musk alleges $50B in fraud at Treasury after judge blocks DOGE audit Fox

Coinbase, Gemini CEOs cheer as CFPB chief defangs agency Block

Inside the new plan to seize Russia’s shadow fleet Politico

Scores of bodies uncovered in Libyan mass graves linked to human trafficking AFP

TikTok to let U.S. Android users download app via kits on its website Reuters

🇷🇺 RUSSIA & CHINA

China’s Strategy in Trade War: Threaten U.S. Tech Companies WSJ

Kremlin Gloats as Trump Sanctions International Criminal Court MT

Fraudulent hard drive scandal deepens at Seagate Tom’s

Baltic states unplug from Russia and join EU power grid BBC

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

Billionaire Proposes $1M Reward for Bolivia’s Evo Morales Bloomberg

How American Educators Are Conning Kids Free Press 

Tulip Siddiq’s illegal funds in the UK will be seized Telegraph

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

Quantum computing will bring lost Bitcoin ‘back in circulation’ Cointelegraph

How Silk Road drug kingpin could reclaim $6.5B worth of Bitcoin after being pardoned by Trump Daily Mail

Armed police arrest three Britons over kidnap of crypto broker in Spain Telegraph

🚚 TRAFFICKING

How Trump’s Aid Freeze Could Drive More Drugs and Migrants to U.S. Streets WSJ 

Trump’s claim that Mexican cartels and government are allied is not reality Guardian

The Pacific cocaine corridor: a Brazilian cartel’s pipeline to Australia SWJ

 


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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

American Express closed 30 accounts tied to Iran.  It also ended its relationship with a third-party ATM network provider, which was connected to an Iranian bank sanctioned by the U.S. government. Reuters

A Silver Bullet for Russia Sanctions? CEPA

🧐 Do U.S. Sanctions Really Work? Illicit Edge

Leaked document says ‘large scale’ immigration enforcement action coming to L.A. LAT

Trump administration disbands task force targeting Russian oligarchs Reuters

💰 How Russia launders its money in the U.S. Illicit Edge

Trump ready to double down on Russian sanctions NYP

Brink’s Unit to Pay $42M to Settle DOJ, Treasury Claims WSJ

Trump’s First Iran Sanctions Hit Three Ships in China Trade Bloomberg

Tornado Cash Developer Alexey Pertsev Released From Jail to Prepare for Appeal CoinDesk

Trump signs order imposing sanctions on the ICC AP

US warns of sanctions against Rwandan and Congolese officials over conflict Reuters

USAID Gifted a Cement Factory to Hamas – How $310M in U.S. Taxpayer Money Helped Create Gaza Terror Tunnels Global Disconnect

Sen. Ernst warns of ‘willful sabotage’ at USAID, cites millions in funding for Wuhan lab, terrorists and more.  This includes $2M in funding for Moroccan pottery classes, $2M backing trips to Lebanon, $1M to fund research in the Wuhan lab, $20M to make a Sesame Street in Iraq and $9M in humanitarian aid that “ended up in the hands of violent terrorists.” NYP

🚩 The Collapse of USAID Is Already Fueling Human Trafficking and Slavery at Scammer Compounds Wired

DeepSeek coding has the capability to transfer users’ data directly to the Chinese government ABC

Lawmakers Push to Ban DeepSeek App From U.S. Government Devices WSJ

Russians’ Hunt to Shield Savings Pushes Gold Purchases to Record Bloomberg

ICE carries out raid in Colorado, 100 members of Venezuelan gang targeted for arrest ABC

‘The biggest heist in American history’: DC is just waking up to Elon Musk’s takeover Verge

New target of Paragon spyware comes forward TC

Iran calls for OPEC to unite against U.S. oil sanctions Reuters

Why the West is failing to fight corruption .coda

US Set to Announce Seizure of Venezuela Vice President’s Plane Bloomberg

Member of Al-Qaeda Sentenced to 44 Years for Terrorism Offenses DOJ

 

🇨🇳 CHINA 

Gen Z ‘nihilism’ over Chinese tech fears shows gulf with Washington Semafor

🛠️ How China is Stealing U.S. Military Secrets Illicit Edge

China lashes out at US ‘coercion’ after Panama declines to renew infrastructure agreement AP

China’s Oil Teapots Cut Runs to Pandemic Levels After Sanctions Bloomberg

Tencent Shouldn’t Participate in Paramount Merger, Senator Says Bloomberg

 

🇷🇺 RUSSIA

How the USAID collapse helps Putin Semafor

Russian Company Behind Egypt Wheat Cargo Sold ‘Stolen’ Ukraine Grain OCCRP

Russia’s spies, in retaliation against the CIA, urge Americans to get in touch Reuters

UK MPs push for probe into Russian billionaire’s $1B tax dodge ICIJ

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

Venezuela calls US seizure of plane ‘brazen theft’ BBC 

💰 How Venezuela Became So Corrupt Illicit Edge

Trump orders freeze of aid to South Africa, citing country’s land expropriation law Politico

Former GW Bush aide says a Uzbek businessman hired him to lobby for U.S. sanctions on a local business rival ICIJ

Ohtani’s ex-interpreter sentenced to nearly 5 years for bank and tax fraud PBS

NYC Mayor Adams Ex-Aide Plans to Plead Guilty in Corruption Case AP

Education Department Cancels $15M for DEI Programs at Three Universities Free Beacon

DOGE Aides Search Medicare Agency Payment Systems for Fraud WSJ

Thailand cuts power supplies to Myanmar border towns in effort to curb scam rings AP

Billions in EU farm subsidies tied to greenwashing Politico

EU court upholds €320M fine against Poland for violating rule of law Politico

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

U.K. orders Apple to let it spy on users’ encrypted accounts WaPo

House GOP hears crypto firms on Operation Choke Point 2.0 Axios

HPE begins notifying data breach victims after Russian government hack TC

SEC Says Game Service Roblox Part of ‘Active Investigation’ Bloomberg

A Very Crypto Mystery NY Mag

FDIC Releases Documents Related to Supervision of Crypto-Related Activities FDIC

Ransomware payments drop for first time in years following law enforcement disruptions Record

SEC moves top crypto litigator involved in Ripple, Coinbase cases to IT department Block

Former Malaysian PM’s X Account Hacked to Promote Scam Meme Coin BeInCrypto

 

🚚 TRAFFICKING

What to Know About Canada’s Role in the Fentanyl Crisis NYT

💥 Networks That Fuel the Fentanyl Crisis Illicit Edge

ICE makes staggering 11K illegal migrant arrests in just 18 days NYP

Record-breaking wildlife seizures underline importance of security collaboration Traffic

The Salvadoran Mega-Prison Offering to Take America’s Worst Criminals WSJ

Coast Guard Cutter interdicts $91M in illicit narcotics during Eastern Pacific Ocean patrol DHS

Tariff threats take aim at fentanyl trafficking. Here’s how the drug reaches the U.S. AP

 


COMPLIANCE TOOLBOX

🔑 Cryptocurrency Regulation Tracker Atlantic Council

🔑 COMTRADE: Using Trade Data to Uncover Fraud and Smuggling OCCRP

🔑 2022 Rule of Law Index World Justice Project

🔑 Global Organized Crime Index Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

🔑 Anti-Corruption Helpdesk Transparency International

🔑 Flight Intelligence for Investigators Icarus Flights, C4ADS

🔑 Global Legislative Map: Violent Extremist and Terrorist-Related Online Content Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism

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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Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

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Federal Reserve

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Department of Justice

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Commerce Department

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Securities and Exchange Commission

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Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

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Federal Trade Commission

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HM Treasury

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Interpol

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