We’re thrilled to feature Ray Donovan, a 28-year DEA veteran and former Head of Operations, in the latest episode of Coercive Capital with Elaine Dezenski.
—
🎯 Israel begins strikes against Lebanon targeting Hezbollah financial assets. The airstrikes are expected to inflict significant damage on Hezbollah’s economic abilities. Fox
🚩 Leaked documents show U.S. intelligence on Israel’s plans to attack Iran CNN
🌎 Serbia’s president thanks Putin for gas supplies and vows he’ll never impose sanctions on Russia. Vucic did not say whether he would accept a Putin’s invitation to attend a BRICS summit in Kazan later this week. AP
🚩 After Orbán, EU eyes new Russia sanctions push Politico
🌎 Mexican navy seizes drugs worth more than $100M. This latest haul marks a victory in Mexico’s ongoing fight against drug trafficking, as the country remains a key transit point to U.S. DW
🌎 Historic bitcoin theft tied to Connecticut kidnapping, luxury cars, $500K bar bills. Police said the botched kidnapping of a Connecticut couple may have been part of a plot to demand ransom from their son — who is being investigated for possible involvement in the crypto heist. CNBC
🌎 US attorneys push Biden to help free Binance executive held in Nigeria. The attorneys general have asked President Biden to designate Tigran Gambaryan as a hostage under the Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. Cointelegraph
🔥 Bring Tigran Home: An American Unjustly Detained in Nigeria. Watch, Share, and Free Tigran! Illicit Edge
🌎 In Moldova, a Pro-Russian Oligarch With a Criminal Past Tries to Derail Path to Europe. Ilan Shor fled to Russia after being convicted in a $1 billion bank heist. Now he aims to topple Moldova’s government. WSJ
🚩 The Disinformation Warning Coming From the Edge of Europe Wired
🌎 US firm’s Russia work prompts Congress to demand stricter sanctions. A bipartisan coalition is demanding the Biden administration tighten sanctions on Russia’s oilfield services industry. FT
🚩 Russia, UAE Trade Tripled During Last Three Years, Putin Says Bloomberg
🌎 Mysterious $7B estate tax payment spurs questions about source of funds. The $7B single-day influx of estate tax receipts was almost 80-times the average daily amount. Fox
🌎 Iranian External Operations in Europe: The Criminal Connection. Iranian agents have continued to engage in assassination, abduction, intimidation, and surveillance plots targeting regime opponents around the world. ICCT
—
📌 US Offers $10M for Information on Russia War Blog Rybar Bloomberg
📌 How the Communist Party quietly took over SVB’s China operation Fortune
📌 DJI sues Department of Defense over listing as a Chinese military company TechCrunch
📌 Report claims US probing TSMC over secret Huawei deals Tom’s
📌 China Development Bank former VP given 12 years in jail, fine for bribery Reuters
📌 China boosts export controls on dual use items Reuters
—
💸 Thai police say 18 arrested as alleged pyramid scheme losses near $50M Reuters
💸 Elon Musk’s daily $1M giveaway to registered voters could be illegal CNN
💸 A mayor, a rapper, a senator, a billionaire: Meet the man who prosecuted them all Politico
💸 NYC’s shelter contracts are ripe for fraud and abuse by unscrupulous nonprofits NYP
💸 Veterans Dept. Investigating Acadia Healthcare for Insurance Fraud NYT
—
🔐 Crypto platform Radiant Capital says $50M in digital coins stolen Record
🔐 France and Belgium join forces in Telegram probe Politico
🔐 NexFundAI: The FBI’s ‘Trap Token’ Explained Cointelegraph
—
🚚 Florida human trafficking sting nabs 157 people, including 25 illegal immigrants Fox
🚚 Mexican cartels give members ‘permission’ to shoot US Border Patrol agents Daily Mail
🚚 Four men jailed after smuggling millions of dollars’ worth of marijuana to UK NYP
—
📘 Ecuador’s Risky War on Narcos New Yorker
📘 New $72K Migrant Smuggling Routes to the U.S. Start With Charter Flights Reuters
📘 Money Laundering National Risk Assessment Singapore MAS
📘 A better anti-corruption machine Brookings
📘 Ransomware Victim Insights RUSI
📘 Standards and interoperability: The future of the global financial system Atlantic Council
📘 U.S. Foreign Extortion Prevention Act: New Tool in the Fight Against Global Corruption TI
📘 How We Uncovered the Modus Operandi of Criminals Smuggling Illegal Gold out of Venezuela Pulitzer Center
📘 Illicit Drugs Are Undermining Pacific Security USIP
📌 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?
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 /
🎙️ Conversation with an Exiled Venezuelan Opposition Leader Lawfare
🎙️ Hezbollah’s Secret Missile Cities, Russia Advances In Ukraine, & Hamas Chief Fears For Life President’s Daily Brief
🎙️ Fox News, defamation, and our new information reality Click Here
🎙️ Deep Cover: George Santos Pushkin
🎙️ Conversation with Former FATF President RUSI
🎙 ️The problem with the Nigerian economy has nothing to do with crypto Click Here
🎙 ️Crypto ATMs, a Senator Convicted, AUSTRAC Report, Timeshare Fraud, etc. AML Conversations
🎙 ️Sanctions and Russia’s Nuclear Diplomacy RUSI
🎙 ️Partnering with terrorists to fight terrorists Generation Jihad
🎙 ️Allen Stanford: The Lord of the Lies Scamfluencers
🎯 Blockchain and Bloodshed: Role of Cryptocurrencies in Terrorist Financing. The rise in the use of privacy-oriented crypto such as Monero by ISK poses a significant challenge to AML/CFT efforts. Soufan Center
🌎 The Debanking of America. What do Muslims, January 6 rioters, and Melania Trump all have in common? They were kicked off the financial grid. Free Press
🌎 Olympic snowboarder wanted for running murderous drug trafficking operation. Ryan Wedding represented Canada in the 2002 Winter Olympics – his operation shipped 827 pounds of cocaine in a single month. NBC
🌎 ‘They fall in love with me’: Inside the fraud factories driving the online scam boom. Victims or “pigs” are persuaded to invest money in schemes until they’re fat enough to slaughter. Sky
🚀 Illicit Edge Originals: Pig Butchering breakdown with Yaya Fanusie and Erin West Designated
🌎 This is how a Russian disinformation campaign starts. A video of a whistleblower with an unbelievable story to tell. NBC
🌎 Putin’s sanctions-busting shadow fleet is spilling oil all over the world. Satellite imagery shows the unforeseen consequences of efforts to hobble Russia’s war economy. Politico
🇷🇺 U.S. laments disappointing Swiss decision not to fully adopt latest EU sanctions AP
🌎 FBI Arrests SEC Hacker Linked to Fake Tweet Saying Bitcoin ETFs Were Approved. Eric Council Jr. hijacked the SEC’s X account and then handed control to co-conspirators. CoinDesk
🌎 OCC hits Florida bank over AML concerns. Maitland-based Axiom Bank agreed to revamp its BSA/AML program and look at its SARs. Banking Dive
🌎 McKinsey Should Face Probe Over China Work. Republican lawmakers called for an investigation into the consulting firm, saying its leadership might have misrepresented the firm’s work. WSJ
🌎 Brazilian police arrested the hacker who stole everyone’s SSN. ‘Operation Data Breach’ may have found its target, but that won’t secure more than 270M Social Security numbers. Verge
—
🇷🇺 UK Issues Largest Sanctions Yet on Russian Shadow Fleet AFP
🇷🇺 Russia Adds LNG Shadow Fleet Tankers With New Dubai-Based Firm Bloomberg
🇷🇺 Swiss Authorities Investigate Firms Dodging Russia Sanctions Bloomberg
🇷🇺 Russia bans fruit and veg from Kazakhstan after country refuses to join BRICS Politico
—
🇨🇳 Families of fentanyl victims ask U.S. for China tariffs over opioid crisis Reuters
🇨🇳 U.S. Sees Growing China-Russia Cooperation on Arms Against Ukraine Bloomberg
🇨🇳 China’s Russia imports, hampered by payment sanctions, drop as exports swell SCMP
—
💸 Global Financial Watchdog To Focus On Risky Nations AFP
💸 UN food agency failed to act as U.S. aid was looted in Ethiopia Reuters
💸 North Korea Imports $50M in Luxury Goods in Kim Gift Splurge Newsweek
💸 Headhunter Said to Use Fake Identities to Dupe Wall Street Traders Bloomberg
💸 Alex Saab named Venezuela’s industry minister Miami Herald
💸 U.S. Renews Program to Root out Money Laundering in Real Estate Ahead of Larger Crackdown Barron’s
💸 Last defendant pleads guilty to role in $250M Feeding Our Future fraud scheme CBS
—
🔐 U.S. charges Sudanese men with running powerful cyberattack-for-hire gang Axios
🔐 AI helped the feds catch $1B of fraud in one year. And it’s just getting started CNN
🔐 Fake Coinbase website leads to $20M fraud, 5-year sentence Cointelegraph
🔑 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
🔑 Basel AML Index Map Basel Institute on Governance
🔑 Scorched Earth: Using NASA Fire Data to Monitor War Zones Bellingcat
