Happy Friday!  It's August 30, and we're tracking top stories to take you into Labor Day Weekend: RTX fined $200 million for exports to China, North Korean hackers exploit Chrome zero-day to steal crypto, Iran funnels money to anti-Israel campus protests, RBC wants to claw back millions in pay from Project Ken execs, and much more...

Featured Story

🎯 RTX fined $200 million for exports to China. The fine stems from failure to abide by ITAR by poorly classifying and controlling exports of defense articles, including classified ones. Reuters 

Top Stories

🌎 North Korean hackers exploited Chrome zero-day to steal crypto. When the hackers exploited the vulnerability, it was a zero-day, meaning Google was unaware of the bug and had zero time to react. TechCrunch

🌎 Iranian regime funneling money into anti-Israel groups and campus protests through ‘grassroots activist’ groups. SJP is a network of radical pro-Hamas and anti-Israel student groups who have spread their ideologies at university campuses across the country. NYP

🌎 A decade of ‘I love you’ texts led to 2 execs’ firings. Now a bank wants to claw back millions in pay. The relationship involving CFO Nadine Ahn and executive Ken Mason culminated with Ahn’s pushing for undeserved promotions and raises for Mason. Fortune

🌎 'Pig Butchering' Scams Remain Dangerous Threat in Crypto Markets. Scammers fatten up their targets with romantic overtures that build trust before hitting them with a fake investment opportunity. CoinDesk

🚀 Featured Report: 2024 Crypto Crime Mid-year Update - Part 2 Chainalysis

🌎 EU to Move Forward With Russian Asset Plan Regardless of U.S. A G7 agreement has faced delays as Washington seeks firmer assurances that the EU will be able to renew sanctions measures in the face of the opposition from Hungary. Bloomberg

🌎 Closing the backdoor: The new TurkStream is here. Can the West stop it? The EU cannot look away as Gazprom tries to launder Russian gas exports. Politico

🌎 Humanitarian Groups Sending Gaza Aid Face Banking Challenges. Many humanitarian organizations have had their bank accounts closed and transactions frozen since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. WSJ

🌎 Behind the arrest of Telegram boss, a small Paris cybercrime unit with big ambitions. The arrest signaled the mettle of the J3 cybercrime unit, but the true test of its ambitions will be whether Brousse can secure a conviction. Reuters

🌎 China Charges Ex-ICBC Banker Lee Zhang Over Bribery. Anti-corruption officials charged him with abusing his authority for personal gain and taking significant bribes. Bloomberg

🌎 Secretive Trader ‘Hector’ Seen as Global Kingpin for Iranian Oil. How the son of an adviser to Ayatollah Khamenei is said to have become a major player in international energy markets. Bloomberg

🌎 Under industry pressure, IRS division blocked agents from using new law to stop wealthy tax dodgers. High-powered tax attorneys bemoaned the 2010 legislation meant to crack down on big-dollar tax shelters. ICIJ

IN THE NEWS

Russia

🇷🇺 Putin, cash and guns prompt ‘explosive’ rethink of Swiss neutrality Politico

🇷🇺 Putin Defies War-Crimes Warrant With Plan to Visit Mongolia Bloomberg

🇷🇺 Russia Is About to Try Using Crypto to Get Around Sanctions CoinDesk

🇷🇺 Key Western Ally Is Buckling Under Russian Pressure WSJ

--

China

🇨🇳 Russia payment hurdles with China partners intensified in August Reuters

🇨🇳 Harris VP pick spent years promoting research facility that collaborated with 'Chinese military company' Fox

🇨🇳 Sullivan Vows in Beijing Trip to Stay Course on China Chip Curbs Bloomberg

--

Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Dozens arrested in bust targeting 'largest known pharmacy burglary ring' in DEA history USAT

💸 Musk’s Clash With Brazil Deepens, Threatening X and Starlink Bloomberg

💸 Nasdaq Futures to pay $22M to settle charges over perk program Reuters

💸 ‘World’s largest’ piracy ring Fmovies shut down by police in Vietnam Guardian

--

Crypto & Cyber

🔐 U.S. House Committee Plans for Heap of Crypto Hearings in September CoinDesk

🔐 Harmful 'Nudify' Websites Used Google, Apple, and Discord Sign-On Systems Wired

🔐 Warren Presses Wall Street Regulator to Explain Decline in Enforcement Actions Bloomberg

🔐 Jailed FTX Exec Withdraws His Request to Compel Government to Abide by Plea Deal CoinDesk

--

Trafficking

🚚 Scotland's 'Tony Soprano' smuggled cocaine in banana boxes BBC

🚚 Mexican drug lord, who founded ultra-violent Zetas, released from US prison Reuters

🚚 Largest ever synthetic opioid laboratory in Poland dismantled Europol

🚚 Are Mexican drug cartels as powerful as people think? LAT

--

Sanctions

💥 Britain places travel ban on two men under counterterrorism sanctions Reuters

💥 Steps to Impose Visa Restrictions on Individuals Involved in the Repression of Syrians U.S. State Dept

💥 U.S. imposes visa restrictions on South Sudanese officials for taxing aid shipments VOA

HAVE A WONDERFUL LONG WEEKEND!

📩

Share Illicit Edge with friends!

They can subscribe here for free and never miss a story.