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Hello Wednesday!  It's September 27, and we're tracking today's top stories: McKinsey pays $230M for opioid scandal, U.S. bans three Chinese companies over Uyghur forced labor, U.S. sanctions nine tied to Sinaloa cartel, brutal cartel violence in Mexico, and much more...

🚀 Visit Illicit Edge all day for real-time news updates! 🚀 

Featured Story

🎯 McKinsey Agrees to Pay $230M to Settle More Opioid Suits. The accord with local governments and school districts would resolve allegations that McKinsey, one of the biggest US management consulting firms, helped fuel the country’s catastrophic opioid epidemic. Bloomberg  

Top Stories

💥 US Bans 3 Chinese Manufacturers Over Forced Uyghur Labor. The Chinese government has set up internment camps in the northwestern city of Xinjiang to extract forced labor from Uyghurs and other Turkic minorities, including Kazakhs and Kyrgyz. The Hill

💥 US sanctions 9 tied to Mexico's Sinaloa cartel and leader of Colombia's Clan del Golfo. The nine affiliates of the Sinaloa cartel follow a U.S. indictment unsealed in April that targeted a branch of the Sinaloa cartel run by the sons of former leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán. AP

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💥 Corpses, body parts strewn across Mexico's Monterrey in spate of violence. Mutilated corpses and severed body parts were found dumped in seven locations across the metropolitan area of the Mexican city of Monterrey on Tuesday in a spate of violence that unnerved residents of Mexico's industrial capital. Reuters

💥 JPMorgan to pay $75 million to settle lawsuit over ties with Jeffrey Epstein. The bank said the settlement doesn't involve admissions of liability; however, it regrets any association with Epstein, and would never have continued doing business with him if it believed he was using the bank in any way to commit heinous crimes. NBC News

💥 Judge rules Donald Trump defrauded banks, insurers while building real estate empire. Trump, his company and key executives repeatedly lied about his riches on his annual financial statements, reaping rewards such as favorable loan terms and lower insurance costs. AP

💥 Hunter Biden received $250K wires originating in Beijing with beneficiary address listed as Joe Biden's home. The House Oversight Committee has obtained bank records alleging that the Biden family and their business associates received millions of dollars from oligarchs in Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Kazakhstan. Fox News

💥 US lawmakers demand documents on Ford battery partnership with CATL. Republicans have been probing Ford's battery plant plan for months over concerns it could facilitate the flow of U.S. tax subsidies to China and leave Ford dependent on Chinese technology. Reuters

💥 MoneyGram unveils non-custodial wallet to bridge the worlds of crypto and fiat currency with USDC. MoneyGram’s new product will have full “know-your-customer” requirements and will only be compatible with other MoneyGram wallets. Fortune 

IN THE NEWS

China

🇨🇳 Xinjiang Supply Chain Business Advisory U.S. State Department

🇨🇳 Evergrande chairman under police watch; liquidation risk mounts Reuters

🇨🇳 TikTok Employees Say Executive Moves to U.S. Show China Parent’s Influence WSJ

🇨🇳 Disney laid off hundreds of Beijing employees ahead of meeting with US congressman over data privacy NY Post

🇨🇳 China's Trina Solar plans $400 million Vietnam plant after US sanctions Reuters

Russia

🇷🇺 Russian tycoon Magomedov launches $14B lawsuit in UK over port holdings Reuters

🇷🇺 The trade in sanctioned oil is booming as the US turns a blind eye Guardian

🇷🇺 UK suspects Wirecard's Jan Marsalek of spying for Russia DW

🇷🇺 Diesel/Russia: Oil sanctions help tighten supply for industrial fuel FT

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Corruption & Financial Crime

💸 Singapore's central bank looking into banks' role in $1.8B money laundering case Reuters

💸 Ex-Venezuela oil minister's pilot pleads guilty to violating US sanctions Reuters

💸 Police militias fought Brazil’s gangs. Now they extort, traffic and kill, too WaPo

💸 Swiss prosecutors indict an ex-employee of trading firm Gunvor over bribes paid in Republic of Congo AP

Crypto & Cyber

🔑 The World’s Biggest Crypto Firm Is Melting Down WSJ

🔑 Hack of Egyptian Politician’s iPhone Tied to Tech Firm Sandvine Bloomberg

🔑 IRS Proposed Rule on Digital Asset Broker Reporting Could Kill Crypto in America CoinDesk

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