—
🎯 Obscure Pentagon Watchlist Offers Blueprint for China Sanctions. The Pentagon list was mandated as part of an annual defense bill passed during the waning days of the first Trump administration to expose the connection between China’s military and commercial interests. Bloomberg
🌎 Russian court imposes 2B euro damages on Austrian bank Raiffeisen Reuters
🌎 Serious misconduct alleged in report former UCLA professors sought to block LAT
🌎 Cattle Gallstones, Worth Twice as Much as Gold, Drive a Global Smuggling Frenzy WSJ
🌎 Putin on the brink as Russian collapse ‘happening right now’ amid fears of nuclear chaos Express
🌎 Fate of $300M Russian Superyacht Hangs On US Trial Bloomberg
🌎 Panama opens audit of Chinese port operator while Trump threatens to take canal back Fortune
🌎 Trump quickly puts Cuba back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism Politico
🌎 Trump Reverses Sanctions on Israelis in Day 1 Executive Order Free Beacon
🌎 ICC braces for swift Trump sanctions over Israeli arrest warrants Guardian
🌎 A Break in the Argentina Murder Case Tied to Iran JST
🌎 Myanmar deports over 50,000 scam center workers to China amid crackdown SCMP
🌎 Romance scam “money mules” sentenced in case that ended with Illinois woman’s death CBS
🌎 ‘QAnon Shaman’ says he’s buying ‘motha f‑‑‑- guns’ after Trump pardon Hill
—
🇨🇳 China Has Raised the Cyber Stakes Foreign Affairs
🇨🇳 RedNote Recruited US Influencers to Promote App Amid TikTok Ban Uncertainty Wired
🇨🇳 China signals willingness to allow TikTok sale Axios
🇨🇳 As China wields rare earths in US trade war, weaning off that reliance could take time SCMP
🇨🇳 China’s crude oil imports from top supplier Russia reach new high in 2024 Reuters
—
🇷🇺 Russia’s Budget Revenue Surges to Record in December Despite Sanctions Bloomberg
🇷🇺 Russia’s Huge Overspending As War Rumbles On Newsweek
🇷🇺 Russian Oil Flows Stall as US Sanctions Start to Buffet Tankers Bloomberg
🇷🇺 Russian ransomware hackers increasingly posing as tech support on Microsoft Teams Record
—
💸 Biden’s Final Craven Pardons Free Beacon
💸 Roman Abramovich’s life of luxury in Turkish exile Telegraph
💸 Illegal mining ringleader escaped during South Africa disaster with help from officers AP
💸 The new GOP-led Congress will likely pass a bill targeting nonprofits Fast Company
—
🔐 Experts alarmed by Trumps’ crypto meme coins Guardian
🔐 HPE investigating security breach after hacker claims theft of sensitive data TC
🔐 Bitcoin crypto fraudsters ordered to repay £24m BBC
🔐 Indian Crypto Vendor Sentenced to Over 10 Years for Money Laundering Decrypt
—
🚚 Mexico defends sovereignty as US seeks to label cartels as terrorists AP
🚚 Trump launches sweeping border crackdown, mass deportation push Reuters
🚚 India Set to Take Back 18,000 Citizens From US to Placate Trump Bloomberg
—
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
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 /
🎯 One Ship’s U-Turn and Race to Russia Spotlight Oil Market Mayhem. A week after Washington rolled out its harshest sanctions to date on tankers carrying Russian oil, shippers are moving quickly but stealthily to rebuild disrupted supply chains. Bloomberg
🌎 TD moves up CEO start date, overhauls board in money laundering fallout Canadian Press
💥 The TD Bank Disaster and How to Fix It – with Jim Richards DESIGNATED
🌎 SEC enforcement blitz targets 7 financial firms as Biden admin winds down Fortune
🌎 ‘I’m a Real-Life Katyusha’: As Russia Hikes Payments for Soldiers, Their Wives Flaunt Newfound Affluence MT
🌎 Facing a Flurry of U.S. Sanctions, China Prepares to Hit Back NYT
🌎 Chicago’s crypto ATMs are magnets for drug dealing and scams Chicago Sun-Times
💥 Uncovering Pig Butchering – with Erin West DESIGNATED
🌎 Chevron Filed Taxes in Venezuela Despite Sanctions Bloomberg
🌎 Cash App fined $255M in back-to-back settlements Verge
🌎 U.S. sanctions Yemeni bank in action against Houthis Reuters
🌎 U.S. sanctions hacker and company behind Treasury and telecom breaches Record
🌎 How to Stop Cyberattacks on the U.S. Financial System Bloomberg
🌎 Imran Khan jailed for 14 years in corruption case BBC
🎯 Cash App Owner to Pay $80M Over Anti-Money-Laundering Deficiencies. A number of state regulators entered into a coordinated settlement with Block, the Jack Dorsey-led Cash App parent company. WSJ
🌎 Judge orders BitMEX to pay $100M fine over U.S. banking law violations Cointelegraph
🌎 Chinese hackers accessed thousands of Treasury files, including Yellen’s Politico
🌎 Feds seize over $21M from dead Miami man accused of corrupt dealings with Venezuela MH
🎙️ Did you know that Venezuela’s president is a narco-terrorist? Illicit Edge
🌎 Trump Team Readies Oil Sanctions Plan for Russia Deal, Iran Squeeze Bloomberg
🎙️ What should the Trump sanctions regime look like? Illicit Edge
🌎 Spy vs. AI: How Artificial Intelligence Will Remake Espionage Foreign Affairs
🌎 Biotech Battlefield: Weaponizing Innovation in the Age of Genomics FDD
📕 Featured Report: Huione: the company behind the largest ever illicit online marketplace has launched a stablecoin Elliptic
🌎 Drug smugglers used planes, trains, US mail to sneak Mexican cartel drugs to Indianapolis streets CBS
🎙️ How cartels move funds without detection Illicit Edge
🌎 Mexican cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada in plea talks with U.S. CBS
🌎 Toyota agrees to $1.6B settlement of U.S. emissions fraud case CBS
🌎 Ransomware sanctions, software security among key points in new Biden executive order Record
🌎 U.S. to impose sanctions on Sudanese army chief Burhan Reuters
🎙️ The fight for power and money in Sudan? Illicit Edge
🌎 Treasury Targets IT Worker Network Generating Revenue for DPRK Weapons Programs U.S. Treasury
🌎 I Joined TikTok Refugees on RedNote. Here’s What It’s Like. Free Press
🎯 French Woman Says AI Brad Pitt Scammed Her Out of $850K Hollywood Reporter
💰 What is Pig Butchering? Illicit Edge
🌎 Binance.US Chief: The SEC Called Us a Cauldron of Fraud, Without Any Evidence CoinDesk
—
📌 Looming TikTok ban poses financial nightmare for Google, Apple – and other American tech firms with ties to ByteDance NYP
📌 Moscow-Born Former Trump Associate Felix Sater Granted New Money Laundering Trial Bloomberg
📌 Russia and Iran sign a partnership treaty to deepen their ties in the face of Western sanctions AP
📌 SLB says its Russia business aligns with new US sanctions as revenue drops Reuters
📌 Tracking China’s Investment in Overseas Airports CFR
—
💸 Jailing negligent management boards? EU’s aggressive financial sector regulation goes into force. Record
💸 LA Mayor Karen Bass’ office hit with scandals over hush money, bribes, and accusations of ‘legalized corruption’ NYP
💸 Former Oakland mayor, longtime partner indicted in alleged bribery scheme AP
💸 Former CIA analyst pleads guilty to leaking Israeli retaliation plans ABC
💸 Raids targeting anti-corruption chief rock Hungary’s government BBC
💸 Charlotte financial services firm to pay $18M to settle AML charges Charlotte Observer
💸 Mozambique’s ex-finance minister gets another 2.5 years behind bars in ‘tuna bonds’ corruption case AP
💸 Brazil announces Nigeria’s acceptance as BRICS partner country Reuters
—
🔐 FBI has warned agents it believes hackers stole their call logs Wired
🔐 ‘A thief and a crooked cop’: L.A. deputy committed crimes for crypto mogul LAT
🔐 DCG, Former Genesis CEO to Pay SEC $38.5M to Settle Securities Fraud Charges CoinDesk
🔐 Crypto Exchange WazirX Freezes $3M Stolen in Hack Decrypt
🔐 Trump Treasury Pick Bessent Opposes Idea of U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency CoinDesk
—
🚚 Will Trump plan to label Mexican cartels as terrorists bring US military strikes? Guardian
🚚 A Trump-Voting Farmer’s Warning: Mass Deportations Would Be a Disaster Bloomberg
🚚 China and Thailand detain 12 crime ring members suspected of trafficking actor to Myanmar SCMP
🔑 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
