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Economic Fury Targets Illicit Oil Smuggling Network Run by Iranian Regime Elite. The Shamkhani network evades sanctions through a group of seemingly legitimate administrative, consulting, and shipping firms that manage all aspects of the network’s fleet. U.S. Department of the Treasury

US will not renew waiver on Iranian oil as it mounts pressure on Tehran Bloomberg

Iran’s Shadow Fleet Meets Its Match in U.S. Blockade WSJ

‘Addicted to hacking’: Young hacker behind historic breach speaks out for 1st time, before reporting to prison ABC News

Telegram Is Still Hosting a Sanctioned $21 Billion Crypto Scammer Black Market WIRED

Imposition of Special Measure Prohibiting Certain Transmittals of Funds Involving CIBanco S.A., Institución De Banca Multiple Federal Register

China Evergrande founder pleads guilty to fraud in Shenzhen court Reuters

Justice Department moves to toss seditious conspiracy convictions of Oath Keepers and Proud Boys Associated Press

Russian LNG under US sanctions heads for the first time to India Reuters

Vance anti-fraud task force suspends 447 hospices in Los Angeles over more than $600M in suspected fraud Fox News

Counterfeiters cash in on the world’s bestselling cancer drug ICIJ

How China’s Weapons Transfers to Iran Have Evolved Over Decades NYT

He Championed the Trumps’ Crypto Venture. Now He’s Attacking It. WSJ

US launches latest strike on suspected drug boat, killing 4 in eastern Pacific Ocean New York Post

Trump admin’s Operation Epic Fury takes aim at banks handling Iranian money Fox Business

FinCEN’s Rapid Response Program Interdicts Nearly $2 Billion on Behalf of U.S. Cyber-Enabled Fraud Victims FinCEN

🎙ILLICIT EDGE PODCASTS

Time to Stir the AML Pot FinCrime Unfiltered

Human Intelligence in Conflict Zones Coercive Capital

WISE and Monzo Penalties, and FinCEN Special Measures FinCrime Unfiltered

Tehran’s Tightrope: The Cost of Confrontation Coercive Capital

💥 SANCTIONS & TERROR

U.S. eases bank sanctions amid Venezuela’s economic woes Axios

Iran’s central bank warns economy may take 12 years to rebuild after war Iran International

Iran nuclear program ‘set back’ but not wiped out AFP

US sanctions 2 casinos, 3 people over alleged links to Mexico’s Northeast cartel Border Report

Abubakar Malami: Nigeria drops charges of financing terrorism against ex-justice minister BBC

Texas Congressman presents bill to designate CAIR a terror org., revoke NGO status, over Hamas ties Jerusalem Post

Neo-Nazi pleads guilty to trying to give Hezbollah intel on Israeli officials in US Times of Israel

North Korea’s ‘small but dangerous stockpile’ of nuclear weapons revealed The Independent

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

Brazil blacklists BYD, some foreign brands may exit China South China Morning Post

Russia Launches Probe Into $13 Billion Fake Invoice Tax Scheme OCCRP

Russia delivers second post-sanctions LNG cargo from Portovaya to China Reuters

Russia Introduces Helium Export Controls Amid Global Shortage Moscow Times

Chinese National Servicemember Indicted for Conspiring and Attempting to Obstruct Investigation U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. suggests Cuba complicit in helping Russia fight Ukraine Axios

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

SantaCon Organizer Charged In Wire Fraud Scheme Targeting Attendees And Host Venues U.S. Department of Justice

Nepal’s Anti-Corruption Crackdown: New Era or False Dawn? OCCRP

2 members of ‘ComEd Four’ ordered released on bail, will get new trials ABC

Stolen IDs sold for ‘Happy Meal’ prices fuel billions in US benefit fraud Fox News

Welcome to the Golden Age of Corruption in America Newsweek

South Korea jails 90-year-old woman for laundering son’s drug money BBC

Ohio Casino Control Commission fines Kalshi prediction market Columbus Dispatch

Accountant Is Last to Be Sentenced for the DC Solar Billion Dollar Ponzi Scheme U.S. Department of Justice

Kalshi CEO expects US DOJ to prosecute insider trading cases Semafor

Hunger, bribery and ruin: Darfur after three years of Sudan’s civil war Guardian

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

How an Iranian Cyberattack Hit US Local Governments The National Interest

FCC exempts Netgear from ban on foreign routers, doesn’t explain why Ars Technica

Pakistan Lifts 8-Year Crypto Banking Ban Following Trump Family, Binance Deals Decrypt

Your life savings could be gone in one click: How a fake crypto app bypassed Apple’s security CoinDesk

CoW Swap urges users to pause amid domain hijacking The Block

🚚 TRAFFICKING 

Feds bust family-run drug business with cartel ties Los Angeles Times

Balkan Drug Cartel Cell Targeted in Massive International Crackdown OCCRP

Nigeria wildlife trafficking persists as protection law awaits presidential signing Reuters

Four North Texas massage parlors shut down amid human trafficking investigation Fox

$1.6 million, a forced con and two men on opposite sides of the world NBC News

Chinese national sentenced to a year in prison for smuggling ants out of Kenya BBC

 


 

ILLICIT EDGE PODCASTS

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

 


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INFLUENCERS

Sarah Beth Felix / Elaine Dezenski / Yaya J. Fanusie / Himamauli Das / Jim Richards / John Byrne / Tom Keatinge / Ari Redbord / Brian Krebs / Hagar Chemali / Joe Robinson / Christina Rea / Andy Greenberg / Moyara Ruehsen / Richard Weber / Erin West / Casey Michel / Varun Vira / Amit Sharma / Ken Rijock / Andrew King / Shlomit Wagman / Archana BaeCrystal Noe / Jonathan Schanzer / Howard Spieler

 


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

French cement maker convicted of financing terror groups to keep its Syria plant working. Lafarge fined more than €1m and its former boss jailed for paying nearly €5.6m to groups including Islamic State. Guardian

How Hong Kong Helps the Flow of Iran’s Hidden Billions WSJ

DOD officially launches new Economic Defense Unit to mesh military aims with global financial sway DefenseScoop

Inside Saudi Arabia’s Billion-Dollar Bet on Hollywood Hollywood Reporter

U.S. asked Iran to freeze uranium enrichment for 20 years Axios

How Merck turned its wonder drug into a blockbuster — and priced out cancer patients worldwide ICIJ

How foreign influence hijacks American minds — and turns us against ourselves New York Post

FBI, Indonesia take down W3LL phishing tool The Record

Hungary’s New Leader Promises to Dismantle ‘Industrial-Scale’ Corruption OCCRP

‘Disbelief and disappointment’: how Javier Milei’s bribery scandal may have derailed Argentina’s crypto investment Guardian

Spanish Prime Minister’s wife charged with corruption after two-year investigation BBC

In Economic War, Chokepoints Beat Tariffs WSJ

Iran’s $7.8 Billion Crypto Economy Finds New Way to Grow After Cease-Fire WSJ

Brazil’s fugitive former intelligence chief detained by ICE CNN

Banks Are Warned About Anthropic’s New, Powerful A.I. Technology NYT

ECB backs EU plan to centralize crypto supervision under Paris-based ESMA watchdog The Block

💥 SANCTIONS & TERROR

US on high alert for terror attacks as Trump’s war hits home The Telegraph

How Iran, Suffering Under Sanctions, Diversified Its Economy NYT

Iran War Is a Boon for the Petrodollar WSJ

US lifts sanctions on Venezuela’s acting president DW

Toll Booths and Tankers: How the US Navy and Economic Sanctions Aim To Squeeze Tehran RFE/RL

150M barrels of Venezuelan oil sold since January Semafor

Hezbollah official says the group won’t abide by any agreements from Lebanon-Israel talks in the US AP

Iraqi fundraising drives linked to militias channel support to Iran and Hezbollah FDD

🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

The return of Russia oil sanctions Politico

Philippines warns of ‘sabotage’ after cyanide seizure in disputed South China Sea atoll Reuters

IU biology researcher pleads guilty to smuggling E. coli DNA from China concealed in clothing shipment DOJ

Swimming becomes first major Olympic sport to lift restrictions on Russian athletes AP

💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

In Talks With U.S., Cuba’s Raúl Castro Leans on ‘The Crab’ and ‘The One-Eyed Man’ WSJ

Nigerian ex-oil minister rejects bribery claims in London court as defence begins Reuters

Viruses stolen from high-security lab cause stir in Brazil Nature

Social Security database added to Treasury’s fraud-checking system FedScoop

🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

Coinone hit with $3.5 million fine, three-month partial suspension over AML violations The Block

Why North Korea hacks crypto instead of evading sanctions like Russia and Iran CoinDesk

Bain & Co vulnerability exposed by hacker a month after McKinsey Financial Times

OpenAI flags software supply chain scare Axios

Hacker group threatens to release Grand Theft Auto VI data in Rockstar Games attack Guardian

Circle CEO Allaire defends decision not to freeze USDC in Drift exploit, citing ‘moral quandary’ The Block

Crypto exchange Kraken targeted in extortion attempt; says no breach and no funds at risk CoinDesk

The Dumbest Hack of the Year Exposed a Very Real Problem Wired

🚚 TRAFFICKING 

A Journey Into the Heart of Colombia’s Deadly Cocaine War WSJ

2 dead in U.S. military strike on alleged drug boat in eastern Pacific NBC News

Inside a One-Man Workshop for Ultrapotent Drugs NYT

International Sting in Spain Dismantles Massive Labor Trafficking Network OCCRP

FBI most wanted fugitive admits to child sex trafficking teen girl in exchange for lavish gifts New York Post

 


COMPLIANCE TOOLBOX

Trade-Related Illicit Financial Flows in Africa, 2013-2022 Global Financial Integrity

Do Export Controls Erode the United States’ Lead—Or Protect It? CSIS

Three Years of War in Ukraine: Are Sanctions Against Russia Making a Difference? CFR

Why does the U.S. use secondary sanctions, and do they work? DW

Teaching the Business and Art of Sanctions Circumvention RUSI

Understanding the Libra Case: Identifying Red Flags in The Crypto Assets Industry GFI

The next generation: Russia’s future rulers Atlantic Council

How overly aggressive bans on AI chip exports to China can backfire Brookings

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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Department of Justice

Securities and Exchange Commission

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Federal Bureau of Investigation

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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