Illicit Edge

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Don’t Let Sanctions Against Iran Lapse. Presciently, President Trump instructed his administration in February to “work with key allies to complete the snapback of international sanctions and restrictions on Iran.” National Review

U.S. insurance giant Aflac says customers’ personal data stolen during cyberattack TC

UK Bans Palestine Action Group as terror organization Politico

Telegram Purged Chinese Crypto Scam Markets – Then Watched as They Rebuilt Wired

Two sides of the same ruble: The Russian currency’s recent strength isn’t likely to last — and it’s already hurting the country’s economy The Insider

Italy has frozen Russian oligarchs’ assets worth over $2.6B Reuters

FATF Identifies Jurisdictions with AML/CFT and Counter-Proliferation Finance Deficiencies FinCEN

Funeral scams: ‘It’s hard to imagine a more callous form of fraud’ Guardian

Ex-TV news anchor Stephanie Hockridge convicted in massive scheme to fraudulently obtain COVID relief funds NYP

Huawei’s new laptop uses older China-made chip, U.S. curbs stall SMIC Reuters

ZachXBT slams Bitcoin bridge Garden Finance for laundering hacked funds Cointelegraph

New INTERPOL report warns of sharp rise in cybercrime in Africa Interpol

Bank hacks, internet shutdowns and crypto heists: Here’s how the war between Israel and Iran is playing out in cyberspace Politico

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🚩 RUSSIA & CHINA

Hungary and Slovakia set to block EU’s fresh Russia sanction package Euro News

Canadian Government Imposes Sanctions on Russian Conductor Valery Gergiev Violin Channel

Ford Still Scrambling to Get Rare-Earth Magnets WSJ

Texas governor signs bill banning Chinese citizens from buying property in the state SCMP

Prosecutors Seek 14.5-Year Prison Sentence for Ex-Deputy Defense Minister Ivanov MT

China’s first counterterror chief Liu Yuejin receives suspended death sentence for bribery SCMP

Swiss Coach’s Controversial Move to CSKA Moscow Risks Violating Sanctions MT

Chinese medicine chief Yu Wenming caught in corruption crackdown SCMP

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💣 TERROR

Mexico City attorney pleads guilty to laundering money for Sinaloa Cartel through San Diego shell companies ABC

Mexican Authorities Arrest Colombian Mercenaries Building Explosives for Cartels Breitbart

She defended drug lord El Chapo – now, she’s running for office BBC

Two Utah men charged with supporting Mexican cartel designated as terrorist group Fox

Police bust major drug trafficking ring in Portugal, seizing cash and weapons Euronews

Police Suspect Brazilian Singer Worked With Cocaine Traffickers OCCRP

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💸 CORRUPTION & FINANCIAL CRIME

How a street peddler fooled some of Manhattan’s biggest art collectors — and killed off the city’s oldest art gallery NYP

Gavin Newsom Sipped Cabernet While Los Angeles Burned City Journal

Prostitutes, a porn star and a bouncer – Spanish PM Sanchez embroiled in corruption scandal Telegraph

Rich Americans flock to apply for New Zealand’s ‘golden visas’ after rules relaxed Guardian

Threat in Your Medicine Cabinet: The FDA’s Gamble on America’s Drugs ProPublica

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🔐 CRYPTO & CYBER

Expert warns of ‘war of codes’ after Iranian crypto exchange gets hacked Fox

FTX lawyers say 3AC’s $1.5 billion claim ‘defies logic’ and should be tossed Block

WhatsApp banned on House staffers’ devices Axios

Fiserv debuts bank-friendly stablecoin as fintechs join digital dollar race CNBC

The stablecoin evangelist: Katie Haun’s fight for digital dollars TC

Canada says Salt Typhoon hacked telecom firm via Cisco flaw Bleepingcomputer

Steel giant Nucor confirms hackers stole data in recent breach Bleepingcomputer

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🚚 TRAFFICKING

Supreme Court allows Trump to swiftly deport certain immigrants to ‘third countries’ NBC

Thirteen People Charged in Takedown of a Major Drug Trafficking Network DOJ

Texas governor vetoes bill that would ban all THC products AP

ILLICIT EDGE PODCASTS

🎙 FinCrime Unfiltered with Sarah Beth Felix

**🎙 Designated with Yaya Jata Fanusie️**

🎙 Coercive Capital with Elaine Dezenski

VIDEOS

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

U.S. offering $10M for info on Iranian hackers behind IOControl malware. The State Department is seeking information on Iranian hackers targeting critical infrastructure using a strain of malware deployed against industrial control systems. Record

Iranian news site confirms banking issues due to cyberattack after hacking claim TOI

Europe-wide takedown hits longest-standing dark web drug market Europol

Trump hints at no more U.S. sanctions on Russia at G7 summit Politico

UK announces new sanctions against Russia Reuters

Schumer Requests $600k in Taxpayer Funds for Left-Wing Group Accused of Training
Illegal Immigrants To Avoid ICE Free Beacon

Many Exporters No Longer Want Dollars Bloomberg

Venezuelan National and U.S. Citizen Arrested for Sanctions Evasion and Smuggling DOJ

CFTC secures Court order directing Agridime to pay $103M in restitution FX News

$124M armored truck crypto money laundering operation busted Tom’s

Crypto Tycoon Justin Sun’s Tron Group to Go Public in U.S. via Reverse Merger WSJ

Corruption scandals put Spain’s Sánchez under pressure to call snap elections Politico

US targets Los Chapitos money laundering network in Mazatlán run by a businessman and makeup artist El País

‘AI Godfather’ Warns Superintelligent Machines Could Kill Off Humans With Biowarfare Decrypt

Graham’s ‘bone crushing’ Russia sanctions bill could freeze US trade with the world’s largest economies. Tariffs of 500% on imports made in China would send prices soaring, disrupt supply chains and could drive up U.S. unemployment to recessionary levels. Politico

White House tries to water down Russia sanctions Telegraph

Syria Moves to End Captagon Empire Built Under Assad OCCRP

Soaring Gold Prices Draw Illicit Miners — and Armed Gangs — to Colombia’s Jungles WSJ

‘Albanian Mafia Leader’ in Ecuador Accused of Laundering Cocaine Cash Via UAE Firms OCCRP

Ross Ulbricht Got a $31M Donation From a Dark Web Dealer Wired

🎙️Special Agent on the Silk Road: Jared Der-Yeghiayan Illicit Edge

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