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🌎 $239M worth of cocaine, including from a narco-submarine, seized in Pacific. The U.S. Coast Guard said it offloaded the more than 18,000 pounds of cocaine in San Diego this week after it seized the drugs in six separate smuggling events. NBC

🌎 Iranian Court Orders US to Pay $50B for Soleimani Assassination. The court found 42 individuals and legal persons guilty, including Trump, the U.S. government, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and more. AFP

🌎 New US-Mexico agreement to monitor foreign investments comes as more Chinese money flows into Mexico. China has increased investments in Mexican companies in the past few years and is the fastest-growing source of foreign investment in Mexico. AP

🌎 Congress Passed a Money Laundering Law. Interest Groups Are Still Fighting It. Three years ago, when Congress passed an anti-corruption law intended to help combat money laundering through shell companies, it drew bipartisan support. NYT

🌎 Bipartisan Anti-Crypto Terror Financing Bill Heads to U.S. Senate. Legislation will crack down on terrorist organizations like Hamas by applying sanctions to foreign parties that facilitate financial transactions with terrorists. CoinDesk

🚀 Crypto Sanctions 2023: Join Castellum.AI and Chainalysis for a crypto sanctions discussion on December 13^th. Register here!

🌎 U.S., UK sanction, charge Russians over years-long hacking campaign. Both countries have sanctioned Ruslan Aleksandrovich Peretyatko, an FSB officer who used a fake email account to send malicious spear phishing emails. Axios

🌎 Hunter Biden faces nine criminal charges in federal tax case. The charges span nine counts, including failure to file and pay taxes; evasion of assessment; and false or fraudulent tax return. CNN

🌎 Trump’s Expert Witness Trashes NY’s ‘Absurd’ Fraud Case in Court Clash. The trial is wrapping up after 10 weeks of testimony from dozens of witnesses, including the former president, Bloomberg

🌎 Iran Looks to Houthi Proxies to Escalate Fight With Israel. The Houthis have used their proximity to major shipping lanes to attack commercial vessels and threaten U.S. warships. NYT

🌎 Biden’s Venezuela Failure. In October, Biden announced a partial and temporary waiver of sanctions against Venezuela’s oil and mineral sector. Compact

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RUSSIA

🇷🇺 The Sanctions Against Russia Are Starting to Work Atlantic

🇷🇺 EU poised to enable member countries to end all gas imports from Russia Guardian

🇷🇺 Russia and China are getting closer than ever Semafor

🇷🇺 Putin claims Russia-Iran alliance has turned tide of Ukraine war Telegraph

🇷🇺 Russia’s Monthly Income From Oil Exports Surpasses Pre-War Levels Bloomberg

🇷🇺 The West Flirts with Russia American Purpose

🇷🇺 India, De Beers seek clarity, flexibility on G7’s Russian diamond ban Reuters

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CHINA

🇨🇳 Punish Chinese money-launderers and banks who finance the trade in fentanyl Hill

🇨🇳 Merck Navigates Chip Geopolitics With ‘China For China’ Strategy Bloomberg

🇨🇳 UAE’s top AI group vows to phase out Chinese hardware to appease US FT

🇨🇳 US Congress will not take up TikTok legislation this year Reuters

🇨🇳 Chinese battery giant CATL hits back at Duke Energy disconnecting batteries Reuters

🇨🇳 US military base’s green energy project with CCP ties disconnected over national security concerns Fox

🇨🇳 EU puts list of Chinese firms with Russia links on Xi’s table Politico

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CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

💸 Treasury Designates Perpetrators of Human Rights Abuse U.S. Treasury

💸 Singapore Investigates Hundreds Involved in Scams, Laundering Bloomberg

💸 Iran’s Biggest Corruption Case Rattles Ruling Hardliners Iran International

💸 Recognizing the 2023 Anti-Corruption Champions U.S. State Department

💸 How Lax Oversight and War Thwarted Efforts to Hold Yemen’s Oil Polluters to Account OCCRP

💸 Romanian-U.S. ATM Fraud Bust Reveals Suspects’ Ties to Riviera Maya Gang OCCRP

💸 Ex-Jaguars employee stole $22M bet on football, daily fantasy. CBS Sports

💸 Bulgarian Consultants Facilitate Industrial-Scale Tax Fraud in Romania OCCRP

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CRYPTO & CYBER

🔐 Crypto’s Biggest Jerk Probably Getting Extradited to New York NY Magazine

🔐 Leader of Russian hacktivist group Killnet ‘retires,’ appoints new head Record

🔐 El Salvador Could Rake In $1B Bitcoin Investment per Year With New ‘Freedom VISA’ CoinDesk

🔐 Binance Withdraws an Abu Dhabi License Application CoinDesk

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REPORTS & MULTIMEDIA

📘 2023 Review of The Fund’s AML/CFT Strategy IMF

📘 No Winners in This Game – Assessing the U.S. Playbook for Sanctioning China CNAS

📘 Gaza and the Future of Information Warfare Foreign Affairs

📘 IRS Criminal Investigation FY23 Annual Report IRS

📘 Tailoring Responsibility: Tracing Apparel Supply Chains from the Uyghur Region to Europe Sheffield Hallam

📘 How Enablers Facilitate illicit financial flows: Evidence from Africa TI

📘 Crypto Country: North Korea’s Targeting of Cryptocurrency Recorded Future

📘 An Autocratic Opening: Russian, Chinese, and Iranian Messengers Capitalize on the Israel-Hamas War GMF

📘 Fractured Veins: The World’s Reliance On Minerals From the Uyghur Region C4ADS

📘 South Africa Mutual Evaluation FATF

📘 Measuring Organized Crime Global Initiative

ILLICIT EDGE INSIGHTS

📌 China’s Oppression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang

📌 How Are U.S. Financial Sanctions Developed?

📌 Top 10 Ways Iran Supports and Empowers Hamas

📌 Iran’s Nuclear Weapons Program: A Dangerous Evolution

📌 Top 10 Ways Money Launderers Are Caught Red-Handed

📌 What are the Top 10 Books on Corruption, Kleptocracy, and Illicit Financing?

📌 What Are 10 Ways China Is Stealing Intellectual Property?

📌 These are Mexico’s Most Powerful Drug Cartels

📌 The Hypocrisy of Labeling Terrorists as ‘Militants’

📌 Sanctions and the IRGC: How Iran’s Paramilitary Group Profits from Economic Hardship

📌 What are the Arguments For and Against ESG?

VIDEOS

IN OTHER NEWS

🌎 U.S. government will monitor Binance for years – who’s right for the job? When Binance pleaded guilty to a variety of crimes last month, they agreed to allow the U.S. government to appoint a monitor to surveil its business internally for three years. Protos

🌎 Treasury Targets Network Financing Houthi Regional Aggression. OFAC sanctioned 13 individuals and entities responsible for providing tens of millions of dollars’ worth of foreign currency from the sale and shipment of Iranian commodities U.S. Treasury

🌎 U.S. Sanctions Show Early Signs of Disrupting Russian Oil Tankers. Sanctions on a handful of tankers engaged in the Russian oil trade appear to have placed several of the ships in limbo. Bloomberg

🌎 The American Way of Economic War: Is Washington Overusing Its Most Powerful Weapons? Foreign Affairs

🌎 ‘Substantial volume’ of clothing tied to Uyghur forced labor entering EU. Calls for legislation after dozens of brands identified as being at risk of sourcing materials linked to China’s transfer programs. Guardian

📌 What’s up with China’s brutal oppression of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang? Illicit Edge

🌎 More than 12,000 migrants crossed the border on Tuesday – the highest daily total EVER recorded. This year has seen the highest ever number of migrant encounters at 2.4M. Daily Mail

🌎 Trafigura Charged in Switzerland Over Alleged Angola Bribery. Trafigura Group and one of its longstanding top executives have been charged over allegations of bribing public officials in Angola. Bloomberg

🌎 Crypto Exchange Bitzlato Co-Founder Pleads Guilty to U.S. Money Transmitter Charge. Legkodymov, a majority owner in the exchange, agreed to dissolve Bitzlato and release $23M in seized assets. CoinDesk

🌎 Société Générale to become first big bank to list a stablecoin. The euro-pegged stablecoin will be available to the bank’s customer base for trading use. Cointelegraph

🌎 Yellen announces economics sanctions as the US aims to crack down on fentanyl trafficking. The Treasury Department announced economic sanctions against 15 people and two companies linked to Mexican drug cartel. AP

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